Duty and Deceit
by Subterraneangem
Summary: A 'Con agent is given an assignment she never wanted; infiltrating Autobot ranks. Duty demands she obey. But her mission goes wrong when Terabyte finds herself doubting her loyalty to the 'Cons. Trust is gained and lost by many. The near loss of her closest friend only compounds her conflict. Will she ever be able to decide? And if she does... Whose side will she choose? Prime/AU
1. Mission: Infiltration

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 1**

**Mission: Infiltration**

_She had only been in the Decepticon base at Kaon for a couple joors. No one even glanced at her as she wandered down the halls. She assumed that since she was a new recruit, she ought to report to a commanding officer so that she could be properly assigned a post. However, the only mechs she'd seen had acted as though she didn't exist, other than the one that had welded the insignia on and Megatron giving his initiation speech. How was she supposed to be a useful addition to the Decepticons if no one bothered to give her an assignment?_

_Turning a corner, the femme almost ran straight into a towering green mech... a flier of some sort judging by the wings._

_"Why have you left your post, femme?" His voice was deep and the mech seemed nearly angry, though she had no idea why._

_"Oh, well, I don't know... Maybe the fact that no one has bothered to give me an assignment? That might have something to do with it. Really, I'd have thought your precious Lord Protector would at least make sure his troops had orders."_

_The mech frowned, but didn't say anything for several klicks. She wondered vaguely if she ought to have been more respectful. She considered the mech, he was nearly twice her height and looked like he could take on the Prime... and win. After what seemed like an eternity, the mech spoke again._

_"Foolish femme. Lord Megatron does not have time to personally see to every Decepticon in our ranks." His engine growled threateningly. The sound echoed off the walls of the empty corridor. She nodded timidly, sufficiently cowed by the display of power. "Come. I will assess your skills and assign you your post." He walked down the corridor with the little Prussian blue and black femme running to keep up._

_"What's your name...sir?" She asked, still unfamiliar with the military formalities, after they had walked in silence for a while._

_"I am Skyquake."_

An internal ping brought Terabyte's mind back to the present. Frowning into her practically untouched cube of energon, Terabyte answered her comm.

_/Terabyte here./_ The comm-line was silent and she briefly wondered if someone was playing some sort of a prank on her... Or more likely, it was probably Soundwave. Terabyte sighed quietly. She enjoyed working in communications and intel, but Soundwave's unending silence was disturbing.

_/Location: Bridge. Come./_ The order was short and precise. As was to be expected.

Abandoning her untouched energon, Terabyte left the mess hall and headed to the bridge at a fast walk. Soundwave did not appreciate tardiness, and besides that, it was her duty as a Decepticon to follow orders with all speed.

Terabyte paused in her thoughts for a moment. Here she was lecturing herself on duty... when she first came she hadn't cared about it, or the cause... she only joined because she'd had nowhere else to go. The Autobots had ensured that.

She'd only been called to the bridge of the Nemesis a few times, the last time she was summoned it was for an announcement that they had received orders to stockpile energon from the mines on the surface with plans to build a space bridge in preparation for Lord Megatron's return.

Upon entering, Terabyte went straight to Soundwave, her face hidden safely behind her battle mask, effectively covering her anxiety with an appearance of calm confidence.

"Reporting as ordered, Sir." She paused then made a small bow to Starscream, who was standing smugly in front of a chained, and rather beat-up, red Autobot.

Under her mask, Terabyte smirked at the image in her processor that so aptly matched Starscream's expression to that of a sparkling who had finally learned to walk across the room on his own without falling on his aft.

Pushing that image aside, she turned her attention to the Autobot and quickly determined that he had only just been thrown at Starscream's feet, as the commander's words confirmed. Quickly checking her data banks for any Autobots matching his appearance, she matched the mech to a warrior designated as 'Cliffjumper'. A small description of him stated that he was reckless, talkative, and relatively dangerous.

"Ah, what have we here? A pitiful Autobot soldier..." He sneered at the Autobot, only to recoil slightly when the prisoner lunged at him, pulling the chains taut.

From her position, Terabyte couldn't see the Autobot's face, but the way he spoke made her pretty certain that he was actually grinning in spite of his injuries.

"'Scream. Been a while." The mech paused to cough up a substantial amount of oil, but continued. "So. Where's your master?"

Terabyte couldn't help but admire the mech's strength and insolence, especially since he was completely defenseless. Her file's description was quite accurate.

"Never mind him! I am my own master." Starscream's face contorted in indignation and he raised his blade-like fingers, about to plunge them straight into the mech's spark-chamber when Megatron's voice rang out in the near-empty chamber.

"Starscream, you fool! He may still be of use to our cause."

Just for confirmation, Terabyte glanced in Soundwave's direction as the voice spoke. Soundwave had used a record of Megatron from the last time Starscream tried to offline an annoying prisoner prematurely. From what Terabyte had heard, the Seeker did so on a fairly regular basis.

As if satisfied that Starscream's rage would now be contained, Soundwave turned his attention to Terabyte. An image of the Nemesis' brig appeared on Soundwave's screen, then Soundwave gestured first at her then at Cliffjumper, indicating that she was to take the Autobot to one of the holding cells.

Giving her commander an acknowledging nod, Terabyte charged her small cannon and approached the prisoner. As she raised the weapon level with his helm, she spoke, her voice smooth and quietly threatening.

"Resistance would be... inadvisable," she released his bonds slowly, "Get up, Autobot."

Cliffjumper stood up to his full height, which was nearly a full helm taller than her. Terabyte pursed her lip-plates in annoyance at her short stature; she had never met a mech that wasn't taller than her. She prodded the mech towards the door. Her height was the average for a Protihexian two-wheeler, but they were not very common. The majority of the survivors of Protihex had jetted out to some neutral world right after the destruction of the city.

They walked in silence to the brig for most of the way, because although Cliffjumper tried to initiate conversation every breem or so, Terabyte refused to respond in any way. After she raised the containment field she ran a quick scan on him. He had several major leaks throughout his systems and a couple dents in his armor that were crushing the wiring underneath. If Soundwave had a plan for the Autobot, then she probably ought to make sure someone did some repair-work on him.

Not bothering to tell Cliffjumper that repairs and Energon would be brought, Terabyte left the room. Standing outside the door, she checked her chronometer._Well. So much for my break._ Terabyte thought sourly as she headed towards the communications lab.

The rest of the orn was relatively uneventful, other than the fact that Soundwave had also assigned the prisoner as her responsibility. Which meant that her already near-nonexistent free time was now spent taking Cliffjumper his Energon rations and working on his repairs, much to her annoyance. She didn't see why one of the drones couldn't have done it. But of course she couldn't complain... Duty would not allow it.

_"A true Decepticon will follow orders. Personal preferences mean nothing."_ Skyquake's voice rumbled in her mind, as she recalled his first lectures on duty.

_2nd rotation of the next orn_

Before she reached her usual work terminal, one of the Vehicons informed her that she was expected in Soundwave's office. Soundwave generally called her to his office once an orn and gave her the orders, having her relay them to the drones as she saw fit.

Terabyte hesitated slightly at the entrance. It had only been one rotation since the last briefing, so that couldn't be the reason she was expected. Maybe it would have something to do with the prisoner? Soundwave had implied that he had plans for the Autobot...

Soundwave's office was even darker than the rest of the Nemesis, though also much more organized. Everything had a place, the walls were bare and so was his desk, aside from one mid-size datapad. Soundwave gestured for her to sit down and watch the projection that was currently paused on the wall to her right.

Terabyte sat down slowly, trying to gauge Soundwave's expression. It might have been helpful, if he had an expression, but the purple mech's visor was a blank abyss. She briefly considered if her own helm type would be compatible with a visor.

Probably not.

The projection showed several successful Decepticon spies and the wealth of information that they had gathered. Some had lived their whole lives in the Autobot's ranks without ever being discovered, even vorns after they offlined.

The Autobots could be so gullible. So confident in their own rightness, they readily accepted any mech that claimed to have 'seen the light' of their cause. Terabyte's lips curled up in a disgusted sneer, still thankfully hidden by her ever-present battle mask.

When the presentation was over, Soundwave looked at her expectantly. Terabyte's golden yellow optics dimmed as she processed the information and worked out what her commander wanted. Her helm rose and her optics widened as it sunk in.

"Sir," she started quietly, forcing her tone into one of detached curiosity. "Would another mech, perhaps of higher rank, not be better qualified for such a mission?"

Soundwave shook his helm slightly.

Terabyte lowered her helm in resignation, deep in her processor already knowing the reason. "I have rarely been on the field in the past eight vorns, the Autobots have no past records of me that would give them reason for distrust aside from the insignia I wear." She concluded soberly. "The Autobots will be more likely to trust me than any other mech."

"My plan exactly..." He replied with a record of Starscream. Most likely one of Starscream's schemes to take command; Terabyte figured Starscream hadn't meant for anyone to hear it.

The human transmitting symbol flashed on Soundwave's visor and she nodded her understanding, not that it was necessary. Seconds later she received a large data burst, containing several gigabytes of information detailing her mission, how and how often she was to report, as well as all the info they had on the Autobots, their base, and their 'morals, rules, and codes of conduct'.

Her processor instantly summarized the transmission down to this: The Autobots were no doubt going to arrive soon to rescue Cliffjumper. She was to help them, insuring that they did as little damage as possible without revealing her true loyalties. She would lay low and gain their trust, confidence, and a place in their ranks. Once that was achieved, she would gather info and give a report of her findings every quartex, or as close to that as she could manage without arousing suspicion.

Soundwave had also included a warning that only the high-ranking officers would be aware of her true mission. The drones and low-ranks would truly think that she'd betrayed them.

Terabyte twitched an audio finial slightly. She would be considered a traitor to most of the Decepticons. Traitors were to be killed on sight, or sometimes even brought to Lord Megatron himself for a very long, excruciatingly painful death. Terabyte only barely managed to conceal the convulsive shudder that ran through her at the thought, reminding herself that the Lord Protector would most certainly know of her mission.

"Understood. How shall I proceed until such time as the Autobots attempt a rescue?" She maintained a somewhat excessively formal tone. The past couldn't be allowed to interfere with her mission.


	2. Acting

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 2**

**Acting**

_An orn had come and gone, but Skyquake still hadn't found a post for her. She had practically failed his examination; she was raised a neutral, she hadn't been taught to be a Decepticon. _

_Skyquake tried to put her in the med-bay, she annoyed the medics and had little to no interest in becoming one herself: after all, what vengeance could a doctor bring on the Autobots? After that he tried her in mining, but she wasn't big enough to effectively use the equipment. Scouting and the front lines were both out, Skyquake had told her that she was both too small -to which she had objected greatly- and she didn't have the military training or necessary skills._

_Finally, she got assigned to Soundwave's department: Communications and Intel. Soundwave was kind of creepy, but once she adjusted to his silent type of communication, the little femme found herself enjoying her job._

_Bothered by Skyquake's obvious lack of confidence in her strength and combat skills, she had decided to give the big mech a visit. He was most likely right; her creators didn't teach her much past emergency self-defense. Maybe she'd be able to change that with a little help. Besides that, she was a bit lonely, though she'd never admit it. _

_Drones didn't make for good company._

Optimus Prime's voice echoed in Terabyte's mind as she walked the empty corridors leading to the brig, Soundwave's last order before her dismissal.

"… _Become an Autobot."_

"_Sir... I have had very little experience with the Autobots. I have seen their destruction, the lifeless chassis of mechs they've slaughtered. I doubt that acting on what I know of the Autobots would encourage their trust." Terabyte had replied, her tone tinged with bitterness._

"_The Autobots can help you. We believe in peace for all..." He was still using the Prime's voice._

_Repressing a derisive snort, Terabyte had nodded and left after Soundwave dismissed her. She took her usual shift, organizing various files, scanning the human's news channels for anything that would help in finding the Autobot base, and making sure the drones were all following orders and ship's systems were running at optimum efficiency._

Now the moment that she had been dreading throughout the rotation. Terabyte stood at the door to the brig with her repair kit and the prisoner's rations safely stored in subspace. She stared at the door for nearly a breem.

Shaking her helm, the two-wheeler opened the door. Orders were orders. Orders must be followed or the system would collapse and the cause would fail. If the cause failed, then Cybertron would have been destroyed for nothing.

"You come to kill me now that I'm all fixed again? 'Cause I was fine with just being fixed and fed, y'know?" Cliffjumper asked, tone buoyant and carefree as usual.

"I'm not here to kill you." Terabyte said flatly. She put down the field and walked in, Energon extended. "Look... How long 'till your team comes in after you?"

Cliffjumper took the offered energon, drinking it slowly, savoring the taste. He didn't seem to have even noticed her question.

She sat down on the berth, keeping the distance between them obviously distant, yet close enough to be considered hesitant friendliness.

"I'm not here to kill you," she repeated more softly. "I'm not here to interrogate or torture you either. I just wanted to know."

"Why? What's a stinking 'Con care if my friends send a rescue?" He glared at the small, black and Prussian blue two-wheeler. The carefree tone was instantly replaced with seriousness.

_'There's nothing wrong with how I smell!' _Terabyte thought defensively. Out loud she said, voice lowered so that he would hear, but suspect that she hadn't meant him to, "Maybe this 'stinking 'Con' is sick of being bad..."

Terabyte turned her back to him slightly with her helm tilted down to enhance the effect of having been hurt by his distrust.

The urge to gag was almost overpowering. Did the Autobots really expect their femmes to act this weak all the time? Apparently, according both to Soundwave's intel. and Cliffjumper's reaction.

The mech looked extremely unsure of what to do. From the corner of her optic she could see him repeatedly raise his hand as if to comfort her before awkwardly dropping it back down.

_'Okay... Enough is enough. A line has to be drawn somewhere. I don't want to overplay my part and get stuck with it. No comforting. Time to lay off on the weak femme performance for a bit.'_ Straightening, and giving herself a small shake, she turned back towards him, helm held high again.

"So. Do you know when they'll come for you?"

"I don't know _exactly, _but knowing Arcee, they should be here anytime now. After all, they're probably getting pounded without me around."

"Excellent. That gives me a little time to finish the last of your repairs." Terabyte figured it was best to let him judge just _what_ she was saying 'excellent' to.

With that, she pulled her med-kit out of subspace and ran a quick scan over him. Cosmetic damage was all that was left. She vented a deep gust of cool air through her systems. Cosmetic it may be, there sure was a lot of work to do. Terabyte thought wistfully about the last time she recharged properly. Must have been several rotations by now, though she couldn't remember exactly. She'd missed her last refuel too.

As soon as she finished Terabyte made her way to her quarters. Getting recharge took priority over fuel levels. Especially if the Autobot's rescue was going to be happening soon, she needed to be ready and fully alert.

Terabyte paused in the corridor, her room just around the corner. She laid her small, delicate looking hand on the door she'd stopped in front of. The room behind that door was empty and had never been lived in, she knew, but she also knew whose quarters they were meant to be.

The huge jet was supposed to be stationed on this dirt-ball, but Terabyte knew that he was likely in stasis, and even if he weren't, Skyquake would never leave his post unless so ordered by Megatron himself. She sure could use a friend right about now though.

"You don't have time to get sentimental, Terabyte. Go get some recharge, you need it." She scolded herself quietly. Shooting one last glance at his door, Terabyte moved on to her own quarters. She was asleep the moment her helm hit the berth, the soft golden yellow glow of her proto-lights illuminating the dark room.

About five joors into her shift, Terabyte noticed something on one of her passive deep-space scans. Curiosity making her forget about the report she was typing up, she examined the scan results thoroughly. The computer had concluded that while there _appeared_ to be a faint transmission, it was highly probable that it was simply space static interfering with the systems.

Just to be on the safe side - the small femme rarely paid attention to the computer's analyses anyway – Terabyte spent another joor clarifying the transmission and cross-referencing the particular frequency with the Nemesis' records.

Shock rolled over her and she simply stared disbelievingly at her discovery for several klicks. As soon as she snapped out of her state of stupor, she opened a comm. link with Soundwave, sending an urgent ping through as standard procedure.

_/?/_ Soundwave's response appeared on her HUD almost instantly.

_/Sir, I believe you might wish to see this personally. I detected a minor disturbance in the deep-space scans you had me run. Upon further examination, it was determined to be a transmission. I have cleared out most of the interference, enough to get an unclear voice pattern. I've already cross-referenced it with our records; it is from Lord Megatron./ _Terabyte reported, her tone not quite hiding her pride, not to mention amazement, at her finding.

Far sooner than she'd expected, Soundwave stormed into the communications lab radiating almost... excitement? He was at her terminal in nanoseconds, shoving her aside in the process.

Terabyte stumbled several steps backward from the sheer strength of the mech, then a couple more in a failed attempt to regain her balance before falling hard on her aft.

"Thanks a lot. So glad I could help, sir. Your appreciation is duly noted." She muttered sarcastically, carefully keeping her voice all but inaudible to those present.

"Excellent." The single word played back in a record of her own voice, serving to remind her that Soundwave saw and heard all. Terabyte gave a miniscule nod. It was a good thing; her commander was keeping track of her mission. She tried to ignore the part of her processor that wondered just how many other 'secrets' Soundwave knew.

Just as quickly as he had come, the purple head of communications was gone. Terabyte stood up and returned to her console. If she was required further, she would be informed. Terabyte did however finish clearing up the transmission for organization's sake.

Not very long after Soundwave's departure, an order was issued ship-wide. All personnel were to report to the ship's throne room in two breems. Anyone not present would be severely punished. Ordered by the Great Leader of the Decepticons himself.

Terabyte froze momentarily before rushing out the door, transforming into her Cybertronian alt-mode, and speeding down the now-flooded corridors. For once, her size gave her a significant advantage and she was able to slip between and around the other 'Cons with relative ease. In just over a breem, Terabyte had reached the doors to the throne room.

The throne room was not used all that often, generally the bridge was used. However, with Megatron coming back, the circumstances had apparently been deemed worthy of its use. Already the area – seeing as it was an unenclosed space on what could be called the roof of the Nemesis, the word 'room' hardly fit- was filled with the troops.

Some had hurried out of excitement for the cause and the return of their true leader, but most had simply come out of fear of punishment, as was evident in their postures and expressions, not to mention the loud murmurings and whispers.

The sound of the space bridge being powered up in front of them brought silence to everyone present. The portal opened, the greenish blue lights swirling majestically within the metal ring. All eyes watched it, waiting for whatever would come through.

Terabyte watched as a narrow bridge, somewhat resembling a human ship's plank, was extended outward towards the portal's opening. A figure appeared, walking slowly forward from the heart of the portal. As the figure neared, the mech's features became sharper and more distinguished, silver armor flashing in the light.

Before Megatron spoke, Terabyte noticed that he had brought a huge chunk of some strange purple crystal with him. The crystal glowed ominously, something about it bothered her, but she couldn't place exactly what. As she peered at it more closely, the Decepticon leader's voice boomed, almost seeming to come from everywhere around her, unfortunately distracting her from the scan she was about to perform on the mysterious crystal.

"Decepticons! I have _returned_!"

'_Obviously.' _ Terabyte thought, _'It's __not like the whole army just rushed up here to witness your grand arrival.'_

The Nemesis shook as it descended to hover over the mountain chasm that the largest energon deposit yet discovered was situated in. Terabyte watched as the miners went about their work, cutting and transporting the raw energon crystals to the refinery. She straightened and, venting a draft of cool air through her systems, steeled herself to approach Megatron and the Air Commander, who at the moment seemed to be boasting his progress.

Terabyte glanced at the restrained Autobot at her side. He was looking around the chasm, watching as she had been just recently, the mining drones' work. The mech whistled long and low.

"Impressive. Can't believe we didn't detect this. The 'Cons have hit the jackpot!"

"Shh!" Terabyte hissed, "I can't help your friends get you out of here if you don't shut up! Lot of good you'll do them if you get yourself offlined before they show up. You're supposed to be a subdued captive, remember?"

Now close enough to pick up what Megatron and Starscream were saying, Terabyte listened carefully, standing at a respectful distance, choosing to wait for her presence to be noticed rather than interrupting the Lord Protector's conversation.

"…army you have surely gathered during your three years in space?" Starscream was saying his voice filled with sarcasm and mock respect. Terabyte wondered why Megatron had allowed the whiny, power-hungry fool to remain second in command for so long. She could think of no logical reason; Starscream was more trouble than he'd ever be worth.

"My army will come, but my time away has yielded a more… intriguing… means of materializing them. The solid form of the matter the ancient texts refer to as," Megatron paused as if for the dramatic effect, "the Blood of Unicron."

Terabyte stifled a gasp, her processor running through everything she knew of the substance. Many believed the crystal to have dark, possibly magical, powers. Powers that were never meant to be used. The Dark Energon as it was often also called had been used long ago to poison the core of Cybertron, until the Prime - Orion Pax at the time - purged it. The substance also was known to have countless negative side-effects to anything infected by it.

"Unicron the destroyer? But it is said that his blood is the anti-spark." Starscream's voice held a small amount of genuine concern.

"Plucked from cosmic shores, gaze upon Dark Energon." The Lord Protector murmured.

"Legend tells that it has the power to revive the dead."

She stared at the crystal. The amount of power that it would give the Decepticons was astonishing. Her optics sharpened eagerly. It could end the war!

"No..." Cliffjumper seemed to have come to a similar conclusion. His cocky stance had faded entirely.

At the sound of his voice, Megatron turned his gaze to Terabyte and the restrained Autobot beside her. Terabyte stiffened, saluting the warlord automatically.

"What is the meaning of this?" He demanded.

"My lord. Commander Soundwave suggested that I bring this Autobot's existence to your knowledge, sir." She paused, glancing at Megatron warily. When he remained silent and made no move against her she continued. "I also came to inform you that he will give you a detailed report at 1430."

"For what purpose have you brought your prisoner here?" He sounded slightly suspicious.

Terabyte swallowed nervously. The warlord did not yet know of her mission, that was the purpose of the briefing in a breem. "Um… Sir, with all due respect to your Lordship, it is 1420 now. I assure you, my lord, I will be sure to include that information in my daily report."

"Very well. Your actions will, however, be closely monitored until then."

With the subtle threat hanging in the air, he turned away to examine the rest of the mine, Starscream at his heels.


	3. Rescue'

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 3**

'**Rescue'**

_She walked quietly into the shooting range, the sounds of gunfire filling the air. Skyquake was in the center, blasting drones, targets, and obstacles alike all into piles of charred debris. To the side, there were several drones that appeared to have been torn to pieces in hand-to-hand combat. The large army green jet didn't seem to have noticed her and continued firing his cannon in rapid succession. The cannon itself was nearly as big as she was._

_Hesitantly, the little two-wheeler approached. Dodging a drone's disembodied head as it flew past, she briefly wondered about the wisdom of what she was about to do. What did she have to lose though? She had nothing left._

"_Sir?"_

_No response._

"_Hey! Sir! I'm trying to talk here, could you quit blasting for a minute?"_

_If he'd heard her, he was doing a fantastic job of ignoring her. She growled, frustrated. The golden energon dagger on her right arm released, extending a bit over a foot long. If he was going to ignore her, fine. She'd just have to be loud enough he couldn't pretend. She pointed the weapon at the wall, sincerely hoping her plan would work. Theories in action._

_The near-silent crackling of her energy weapon gradually grew louder as she fed more power into it. Finally the pent-up energy could no longer be contained and it discharged as a hot yellow bolt, the sonic boom caused by it bringing Skyquake to a halt._

_He slowly turned and looked at the black scorch mark she'd made on the wall._

"_What do you want femme?" His voice, though still gruff and growling, held an undertone of new-found respect._

"_I want you to teach me to fight. And I want an offensive weapon." She paused, considering all the things she wanted, but could never have again... No point dwelling on it, though. Her dagger was fried; the energy surge had blown the small generator that powered it. "I also want another energon dagger, to replace this one."_

_Skyquake's lips quirked up slightly. "It can be done."_

Terabyte blinked several times, staring at Megatron as he boarded the Nemesis. Even once he was gone, she continued to stare at the lift that he'd taken. She hadn't expected him to take her evasive answer nor her subtle suggestion that he might be late so well. To be perfectly honest, Terabyte had half expected the Lord Protector to clobber her for daring to speak so boldly, though she certainly felt anything but bold.

Suddenly realizing that her mouth was hanging slightly ajar, Terabyte hastily shut it, grateful as always to her mask. Cliffjumper chuckled lightly, no doubt at her expression, what little of it he could see.

"Ole' bucket-head's got a point though. Why did you bring me down here? Pretty sure it wasn't for the scenery."

"You will address Lord Megatron respectfully." Terabyte ordered. "Besides, I thought I told you to shut up."

The Autobot didn't listen to her command and was soon talking and joking about every little thing that came to mind. Terabyte shook her helm in exasperation and tuned him out. Did he even care that he risked compromising his own escape? Nothing seemed to get through to the mech.

To speed up the Autobots' arrival, she disabled the portable damping field that had been placed around him; standard procedure for all prisoners, better that the enemy think their guy's dead rather than storming in and wrecking everything their self-righteous troops touched. Using her internal communications array, Terabyte also took the liberty of simultaneously recording and repeating Cliffjumper's spark frequency in sync with his own, making the signal nearly twice as strong as normal.

The enhanced signal apparently had caught the Autobots' attention, because only a few klicks afterward, four Autobot signatures -not counting Cliffjumper's- appeared on Terabyte's HUD, her long-range sensory network having picked up the different faction ID signals. Several danger warnings flashed across her HUD, as well as a few notifications informing her that her automatic defense systems had powered up. It was beginning.

As soon as the Autobots arrived, Terabyte began hearing weapons fire from inside the entrance tunnel. A group of fighter drones ran to investigate and provide reinforcements for the few that were guarding the area. Most of the miners were fleeing the battle, while a couple valiantly remained, only for their screams to echo in the cavern as they were injured or killed.

Terabyte glanced up at the red mech. He was fidgeting, whether in battle lust or concern for his friends, she was unsure. As an Autobot, she suspected the former to be far more likely.

"They're here. You need to go with them before someone shoots the Energon. It's highly unstable, if one crystal goes, then this whole mountain will explode."

Avoiding the mech's optics, she pulled the key to his cuffs out of subspace. Every wire in her frame protested to what she was about to do. Her ethical subroutines spewed a long lecture on loyalty, dragging buried images of the results of Autobot 'assistance' and 'moral superiority' from her data-banks to the front of her processor. Attempting to cover the pained expression that engraved itself onto her face-plates, Terabyte set him free.

"What about you? Your buddies will turn you to slag for helping me." She would have thought he was actually concerned for her well-being, if it weren't for the longing -the cause for this longing still not totally verified- glances he kept shooting in the direction of the approaching battle sounds.

Terabyte tried to ignore the continuing screams of mining and battle drones as the rescue team extinguished their sparks. Typically, they didn't seem to have noticed that the mining drones only had defensive capabilities. All they cared about was getting their one team-mate. Who would care if they each sent a dozen sparks to the Well in the process? Under all their lies, Terabyte had seen what they really were; the cause they claimed to believe in meant nothing to them. They only wanted Cybertron to themselves and as far as they were concerned, anyone who wasn't one of them could rust.

"My punishment will no doubt be severe…" Terabyte replied, and, forcing her thoughts back into playing her role convincingly, put a hopeful gleam in her optics, her Prussian blue mask effectively concealing her contempt. "You wouldn't… I mean, I'm a 'Con… Your friends won't want me to come with you."

Cliffjumper looked into her optics for a moment, and then shot another glance at the approaching battle; she could now see stray laser-fire coming from the tunnel. Coming dangerously close to the raw Energon.

"You can come with me or stay here and get scrapped. Either way, I'm outta here... I've got the world to save." Flashing a grin at her, he ran towards the tunnel, guns raised and ready.

Before she could follow, the battle came to a momentary standstill, the drones sent in earlier must have all been incapacitated. Terabyte saw the Autobots sneak into the main chamber and then more drones filed in, firing on the team. A small femme about her own size; Terabyte guessed it was another two-wheeler by her slender frame, leapt over the boxes they were hiding behind and ran straight for Cliffjumper.

A Vehicon had snuck up above and behind the two Autobots and had a clear shot at Cliffjumper's back. Terabyte watched him power up his weapon and take aim before she raised her mini fusion cannon. The ledge the drone was standing on was relatively small; shooting it would take care of the drone without off-lining him. She sprung on the opportunity, killing one of her own hadn't... _appealed_ to her much, and Soundwave had wanted as few casualties as possible.

She fired, her aim true, and the drone fell several feet to a platform below, the impact knocking him senseless. Shouts rang out from the troops. Terabyte picked out a few words: traitor, Autobot, weakling, coward. Her audio finial twitched angrily, this mission was an insult to her loyalty.

Cliffjumper and the Autobot femme were now running back to their Prime, not having noticed the danger they had just been saved from. Running after them, Terabyte had to dodge a flurry of weapons' fire. As far as the drones were concerned, she'd just become yet another target. Starscream had come back and was tossing something onto several large Energon deposits. He spat some insult or other at the Prime, though Terabyte didn't quite catch it, then flew out of the mine spinning in the air as he went.

"The joint's gonna blow!" A green mech yelled. He was just about as wide as he was tall, Terabyte couldn't help noticing.

"Autobots, roll out!" The Prime ordered, transforming into a large scarlet and blue semi.

Terabyte transformed and shot off down the tunnel, the Autobots ahead of her, seeming to have forgotten about her. Not that it mattered. She didn't need them to like her, just accept her. In fact, her mission would be a lot easier if she didn't get tied up in friendships. Terabyte could feel the heat from the explosion close behind her, licking at her back wheels.

"Ratchet! Bridge us back. Use the arrival co-ordinates, now!" Prime shouted into his intercom.

A portal opened up directly in front of them, and with no other options, Terabyte drove in after them. Transforming as soon as she was through, Terabyte glared at the red and white mech controlling the bridge. She had only just gotten through when it closed, if she'd still been in the portal… Terabyte cut off that thought abruptly, suppressing a shudder. The images she'd seen in records of such space-bridge accidents were enough to give any mech nightmares.

"Whoa…"

Terabyte turned her helm sharply at the sound, which her audios informed her had come from somewhere near her feet. Hesitantly she looked down and stared at the three human children. Soundwave hadn't mentioned anything about the Autobots having pet organics.

"Is that a Decep-ti-con? Cool!" The small, rather colorful, human exclaimed, staring back up at Terabyte with an expression of awe. She seemed to lose interest in her rather quickly though, and the human ran up the stairs to hang over the rail. "What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?"

Terabyte was looking around at the Autobots' base, trying to figure out just where it actually was, not used to travelling by bridge, whether space or ground. They were using human computer technology, so she assumed that they had little of their ship left, if any so they couldn't be there... There was nothing in the room that indicated any specific location. The Decepticons already knew that though, that's why she was here in the first place.

Just then her attention flicked over to Cliffjumper. All the Autobots had finished greeting him and the red and white one, obviously their medic, had gone over him and declared him undamaged. Now the blue and pink femme was glaring at him and looked ready to attack him.

Which she did. Storming up to him, she slapped him hard on the face-plates. She then started yelling at him about 'not needing backup' and being a self-confident idiot for attacking half the Decepticon army single-handed and making them waste time and energy to drag his sorry chassis back to base. Somewhere along the way her furious ranting gave way to her collapsing into Cliffjumper like a deflated balloon.

"Cliff', when your life signal went out… we thought… I was afraid I'd lost…" She whispered brokenly.

"It's okay Arcee, I'm here now and I'm perfectly fine." Cliffjumper returned the hug gently before lightly pushing her off. "You're the last one I expected to go all mushy on me though. Anyone else want to hug their favorite guy?"

The medic snorted and rolled his eyes in disgust. Meanwhile Terabyte, using Arcee and Cliffjumper's reunion as cover, had casually walked around and was about to pick up a broken medical claw on the floor nearby to examine when the medic turned on her.

"Don't touch that!" His response seemed to be automatic, confirmed by how he then paused and gave her a quick look-over, his gaze settling on the Decepticon insignia welded to her abdomen on a piece of armor best described as a belt buckle, though it served no such purpose. "What is a _Decepticon_ doing in our _base_ anyway?"

Terabyte instantly snatched her hand away from the device, resting it instead by her side, energon dagger ready to shoot out if necessary. Her armor flared and the decorative silver plating that half covered the dull gray preliminary armor of her abdomen jutting out as her posture shifted to indignant defensiveness.

'_You're not supposed to fight.' _She rebuked herself mentally, Terabyte shifted her posture to one of resigned submission, however, she left her defensive systems at full power just in case. _'Just act like you expected this, which you did, and are willing to accept anything they want to do to you.'_

At least she could be fairly confident that the Prime would make sure they left her alive. So far as the records had shown, the Primes were the only Autobots that actually cared about their cause and morals. Mostly. Zeta Prime, Nova Prime, Amalgamous Prime... All had shown an excellent example of the true Autobot ways.

Surprisingly, at least to her, Cliffjumper spoke up in her defense.

"So Ratch', you just gave me a clean bill of health right? Right. Well you can thank her for that. Everybody meet Terabyte, she fixed me up and just helped me escape."

"And just because of that, you _trust_ her? Just because of _that_ you risk bringing a _Decepticon_ to our _base_?" The medic was on the verge of hysterics. "Even you, dimwitted pit-spawn that you are, even _you_ should know better than that!"

Terabyte studied the old medic. He might get in her way, she noted wryly, though she had to give him credit; at least one of the Autobots had a shred of common sense.

"Look, Ratchet. We should at least give her a chance. She let me go, not even expecting me to bring her back with us. Ratchet, she was prepared to just let me go, and suffer whatever inhumane torture Megatron decided was fitting 'discipline'. Does that sound like something a 'Con would normally do?"

Terabyte grinned widely under her mask, sincerely hoping her glee didn't show too much in her golden-yellow optics. There was no way she'd even dared to imagine that she would get in this easily. As much as she despised the position her mission put her in, the information she could gather at this rate would further the cause substantially. Skyquake would be proud.

"Cliff', a 'Con is a 'Con. She's probably just acting up to gain our trust so she can relay all our plans to Megatron. We can't afford to take that risk." Arcee said, standing next to Cliffjumper.

Freezing in her thoughts, Terabyte tried to hide the flash of fear that swiped over her face-plates. The slightly taller femme's suspicion was so accurate, Terabyte wondered if her previous conclusion was made too soon.

Ratchet looked like he had more he wanted to add, and the black and yellow mech was whirring and beeping indignantly in Cybertronian, arguing that Cliffjumper was right that at least she deserved a chance to defect, following the normal procedures, but Optimus held up a hand to silence them.

"We are indebted to you for your assistance in Cliffjumper's rescue, Terabyte. However, do not expect us to trust you. Our trust must be earned, and until such time, your actions will be monitored at all times. I will personally escort you to the brig shortly, where you will stay until other arrangements can be made. An interrogation will be performed as well. Direct, honest, and detailed answers would make it a much more pleasant procedure."

"Um. I'd give you any intel I had, but I'm just a low-rank. They don't tell low-ranks much." Terabyte lied smoothly. The only thing that signified her dishonesty was the slight backward twitch of her left finial. Terabyte still couldn't get it to stay still, even after vorns of effort.

"Optimus, I hate to bug but, no bars." The tall human mechling interrupted, holding up a small device that Terabyte was quickly able to identify as a portable telecommunications device. Primitive compared to the intercom, but effective enough seeing as the fleshies' helms were incompatible with the technology.

"A security precaution." Optimus replied, "The silo walls isolate all radio waves." That would explain why her constant scans were always fruitless; wherever they were, they would be invisible to Decepticon sensors.

"Well, if I don't call my mom, like now, I'm pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me."

"Have you broken a law?"

"Um... Curfew. It's after ten pm." the mechling said, sounding rather embarrassed.

"I better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year." the smallest human with the strangely spiked hair agreed. Terabyte cocked her helm at the organic, confused by his words. She was unaware the squishy bi-peds had flight capabilities to be removed. Only fliers could be 'grounded', anyone who couldn't fly lived 'grounded'.

"Earth customs, I hadn't considered." The Prime was actually apologizing to the organic younglings. "But the issue of your safety remains. Bulkhead, accompany Miko home-"

"Awesome! My host parents will _freak_!" 'Miko' exclaimed, bouncing excitedly.

"-And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form."

"Curbside duty. Got it." The large olive-coloured mech, 'Bulkhead', confirmed.

_'Talk about a fitting name.'_ Terabyte thought cheekily as she made a mental list, joining each person to their proper designations.

"Aww..." Miko whined, obviously disappointed that Bulkhead wasn't going to be able to transform and most likely traumatize all of her neighbors.

"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf."

The yellow mech exchanged a glance with the small human, 'Raf'. Terabyte frowned, the Autobots' names were rather boring... and the humans' names were just plain weird. That just left one human to be guarded.

"Ratchet-"

"Busy." The medic interrupted instantly.

"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack."

"Uhh... Can't Cliff'?"

Optimus just looked at her. He said nothing, just looked at her almost blankly, but she nodded and walked grudgingly over to the child they called 'Jack'.

One by one, each mech and their assigned human drove off to the humans' homes.

"Terabyte, if you would come with me." It was phrased politely, but very clearly an order.

Terabyte nodded and fell into step behind and to the side of the Prime. This mission was going to be extremely long term. She had avoided thinking too much into just how long this mission was going to take. The Autobots' trust was going to take quite a while to gain, before she could really even start. She could be stuck with these mechs for vorns... The idea was daunting, to say the least.

**A.N. And there you go! I hope you all enjoyed the read. As always, I love every review I get and look forward to more!**


	4. Captivity

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 4**

**Captivity**

_She followed Skyquake to the armory on the far side of the training area. Opening the doors, she saw more varieties of weaponry than she'd ever imagined. Energon prods, daggers, long swords, clubs, maces, flails… Not to mention every model of cannon, blaster, and energy ray invented._

_She shut her mouth upon realizing that it had dropped open in shock. Not that Skyquake could have seen it anyway. She looked up at the jet questioningly. _

"_How on Cybertron am I going to find a weapon I like? Sir. There's so many." _

"_It won't be so hard as you might think. Your frame and function narrow your selection substantially." He had seemed rather bemused by her awe. _

"_So… where shall I begin?"_

_He bent down and handed the small femme a blaster and ordered her to go outside and try it. After several tries, he called her back in. The drone she had fired at had sustained very little damage, although she had succeeded in hitting it once or twice._

"_It doesn't do enough. I wouldn't be able to hurt an Autobot if I shot him in the face at point-blank range." She had complained heatedly._

"_You want a weapon that will hurt. One that will make the Autobots fear you, perhaps?" His eyes glinted now in poorly hidden amusement. She supposed that Skyquake took pleasure in matching a mech to their perfect weapon. In his position, he probably got to do that a lot._

"_Yes and no. I want a weapon that will make them pay. For Protihex." _

_His face had turned grim at the mention of her home city. He looked into her optics for a moment and nodded, reaching towards a mini fusion cannon near the back of the armory. Like all the other weapons, it was a plain steely gray, unpainted and unpersonalized. But for some reason, unknown to her, it seemed to be screaming her name, as if it had been made for her._

_Again he simply passed it to her and sent her out to test it. Somehow feeling as if this test would determine who she became, she took aim carefully. Imagining that the target drone ahead of her was the Autobot who had led the attack that killed her creators, destroying her home and family, she fired. _

_It was a beautiful hit, right where the drone's spark would have been. _

_Vital systems damaged, the drone collapsed, the hole in its chassis smoking. Her golden optics gleaming with hope and determination, she spoke her original purpose for coming._

"_Skyquake, sir? It would be a great honor to train under you, if you would accept me."_

The Prime walked ahead of her in silence. It was only a short distance to the brig, but time slowed for Terabyte. Prime's very frame seemed to radiate a gentle authority that made her almost want to trust the mech.

Almost.

But he was the leader of the Autobots. All the terrible things the Autobots had ever done had been done in his name. The scarlet and blue mech that towered before her, in his name her home was destroyed; in his name her family was killed. That could never be forgiven, even if the Prime himself had never wanted it.

Terabyte didn't notice when they arrived at the brig. Instead, she simply continued to study the Autobot leader, lost in her thoughts until he turned to her and motioned for her to go into the cell. She obeyed and sat down in the chair on the far side of the cell. Raising the force-field, Optimus followed and seated himself across from her, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands.

Respectfully, she waited for Prime to begin the interrogation. She wasn't sure what methods he would use, but Terabyte began to carefully deactivate the majority of her pain relays in preparation. But he made no moves, just sat there, watching her intently, almost expectantly.

"Mighty Prime. Will you be performing the interrogation? Like I said before, I don't have much intel, but I will willingly answer your questions to the best of my ability." Terabyte said, shifting her armor nervously. If Optimus decided to get answers by force, she wouldn't last more than one Earth hour, if even that. Especially since the nature of her mission gave her no room for defense.

"I was hoping that you might volunteer some of what you know. It would make it much more pleasant for all involved."

Terabyte blinked, her frame relaxing of its own accord. Relief and panic rolled over her simultaneously. Soundwave had given her coding to hide parts of her processor from discovery so that a processor scan could be performed without revealing the more sensitive secrets of the Decepticons. She had prepared herself for all the traditional methods of interrogation, but this… Nothing could have prepared her for this.

She racked her processor for anything to offer in response, her mind suddenly blank from her initial surprise. Finally Optimus, apparently deciding that she wasn't going to provide answers on her own, began the questioning.

"What exactly was your rank and function in the Decepticon ranks?" His optics held a hint of sadness, though his voice was now firm and commanding.

"I worked under Soundwave in Communications. Low-rank. Main function was as a messenger." Terabyte answered instantly, finial faintly twitching. Half-truths were more becoming of her honor, at least compared to outright lies.

"Where are the Decepticons' headquarters?"

"Unknown: the base is mobile. They are flying the Nemesis, which is in a slight state of disrepair. Weapons and defensive systems are fully functional. The ship lands often for repairs and energon stock-piling."

The interrogation continued in that manner for just over two hours, Earth time. Terabyte answered truthfully for the most part, only lying when absolutely necessary and only if the subject was one that was very unlikely that the Autobots would ever find out for themselves. Many questions she simply answered by claiming ignorance. Getting up to leave, Optimus turned around and asked one final question.

"Is there anything else we ought to know about?"

She was about to shake her helm when the idea hit her. The Dark Energon. It was vitally important to the Autobots and, knowing the Lord Protector, Megatron would likely wish to show off its power to the Autobots as soon as possible anyway. Perfect!

"There is one thing Cliffjumper and I overheard Lord Megatron telling Starscream. Upon his return, he had brought back a large sample of a crystalline substance." Terabyte glanced up at the Prime, gauging his response. He nodded for her to continue, "It was Dark Energon. Many believe it to have near mystical powers, including the reanimation of the dead."

"Dark Energon… If this is true, our situation may be more dire than I believed…" Optimus said quietly, as if to himself. "The information you have provided will be very helpful to our cause. I will send someone down later with fuel."

Terabyte was still trying to work out why the Prime hadn't hurt her at all during the interrogation when, true to his word, later that rotation Energon was brought to her by Cliffjumper.

"How's our local Decepticon doing?" He asked upon entering. Then he winced, as if just realizing how rudely that came across. In an ever-so-slightly more subdued tone, he continued, "I brought some Energon for you."

Terabyte took the cube, glaring at it suspiciously. It was much larger than her usual ration, but her tanks were also far lower than usual. However, now that she'd spilled 'all' she knew, there was no reason for them to keep her; she would only be a drain on their resources. She ran a scan on the energy, but the read out on her HUD detected no threats or foreign substances in it. Unconvinced, she refused to refuel, in spite of her fuel tank violently informing her of its emptiness.

"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're worried about." As if to prove his point, the mech raised the cube to his own lip-plates and took a sip.

When he failed to keel over in agony, Terabyte picked it up and drained half the cube, her optics never leaving Cliffjumper's face.

"Why did Prime send _you_?" She asked finally, taking another long sip of her Energon.

"Is there something wrong with me?" He asked in mock hurt. "No, I volunteered."

"Why?"

"You were pretty good to me back there with the 'Cons… I just wanted to, I dunno, return the favor." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Anyway, you good? Need anything?"

Terabyte shook her helm. It was a prison cell, it wasn't exactly designed for comfort, but it was fine.

"Uh well, I need to disable your weapons, long-range communications and subspace systems… Standard procedure and whatnot."

"I'm not much of a threat to you, weapons or no… I really don't see why that's necessary…" She pulled away from him, putting one hand over the control panel on her neck defensively. The idea of leaving herself that vulnerable sent a shiver crawling down her spinal struts.

"Don't make me hurt you to do this… I feel bad enough about this as is."

Terabyte studied Cliffjumper carefully; he _did_ seem rather reluctant… She didn't move from her position, and continued to shield the panel. She shook her helm stubbornly, vulnerability simply wasn't an option, she couldn't afford to trust the Autobots; they'd only stab her in the back when she wasn't looking. Terabyte ignored the small voice in her processor that wondered; how would she ever gain their trust if she never showed some first?

"We want to help you, really. We'll even give you a chance to defect. But we can't let you out if you refuse to be disarmed." His voice was sad and resigned, but he didn't push the matter further. "I'll bring more Energon in the morning."

With that, the red, horned mech left her alone in the brig. After she'd finished the last of the Energon, Terabyte settled down on the hard prison berth to recharge. No one checked in on her for the rest of the night.

Hearing an unearthly screech, followed by the worst sounds she'd ever heard, Terabyte bolted awake, looking around at her surroundings blearily. With the intent of investigating the cause of the audio-shredding racket, Terabyte ran straight into the force-field only to bounce off and fall to the floor. Her whole frame tingled from the electric discharge of the field. Slightly dazed, but now fully awake, she remembered her situation.

What she wanted to know now, was what in the world that hideous noise was. Terabyte's processor throbbed as her sensitive audials were assaulted. It had a vague beat, like some horrible attempt at music. Abruptly the sound ceased, leaving only the proximity alert that had been ringing in the background.

Curious, but having no way to ease that curiosity, Terabyte noticed the cube of Energon that had been left on the table. Vaguely she guessed that Cliffjumper had brought it for her while she was still recharging. A minute stab of fear ran through her, but after running a self-diagnostic, Terabyte realized with a start that even though that would have been a perfect chance to disable her weapons and other systems, Cliffjumper had honored her wish to leave them online and remain in the cell. He hadn't taken advantage of finding her undefended, and neither had the others.

As she slowly drank her morning fuel, Terabyte ran this revelation through her logic centers multiple times, but each time the results were the same: The Autobots were not the evil brutes she had thought them to be.

But that wasn't possible, her spark screamed defiantly. The Autobots destroyed Protihex, killing thousands neutrals. Only someone truly despicable could have done that, which meant, logically, that the Autobots were despicable. Her processors slid back into harmony; the Autobots must be destroyed before more innocents suffer.

A couple of breems after the proximity alerts went silent, a new alarm sounded, this time a distress beacon. It was only a short time after that that Terabyte heard the ground bridge open. Then the base was wrapped in a thick blanket of silence. She figured that she was now the only person left at the Autobot HQ. Occasionally she heard Arcee's faint voice as she commed for a ground bridge, but there was nobody to answer.

Terabyte sat in her cell bored for quite a while before occupying her mind with the humans' internet. She researched human culture, military, and science. She even went so far as to watch a few of their shorter movies through her holo-projector, which helped to pass a significant amount of time.

She was just about to start another movie when Terabyte heard the ground bridge open up again. From the sound of it, all the Autobots – and humans – were back. Not too happy either. Terabyte tried to listen in on what they were saying, but the brig was too far away and though she could hear their voices, she couldn't pick out the words.

Frustrated, immensely bored and still worried about what the Autobots would end up doing to her, Terabyte got up and started pacing along the front wall of the cramped cell. Maybe she ought to have let Cliffjumper disable her systems. At least then she wouldn't be stuck in this empty, uncomfortable and tiny cell, if the mech had even been telling the truth about that.

As she heard the ground bridge open up yet again, Terabyte wondered for the millionth time what was going on, and where the Autobots were getting enough power to use the bridge so often.

Once, Arcee passed by her cell on her way to somewhere. Terabyte looked up at the femme hopefully, but Arcee's only response was a low growl of her engine before continuing on her way. After that Terabyte stopped pacing and sat down again and stared at the floor, walls, and roof.

She really should have asked Cliffjumper for a datapad, or a book to read when he'd asked if she needed anything. Something to keep herself busy hadn't been on the list of things she'd considered at the time.

**A.N. Not much action here, but as a prisoner that is to be expected. Things will look up for Terabyte eventually! Until then, keep reading, reviewing, etc!**


	5. Complications Arise

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 5**

**Complications Arise**

_"I accept your request, Terabyte. You will meet me here again next rotation after your last shift." His tone had been somewhere between an order and a question. Not sure which it was meant to be, she responded to both._

_"I will be here, sir." So happy to have been accepted, she nearly forgot, "Thank you, sir. Very much, sir."_

_Throughout the whole rotation she had looked forward to her session with Skyquake. She wasn't disappointed._

_When she'd entered, Skyquake immediately stopped his own training and, abandoning the practice drone that he'd been about to tear apart, gestured for her to approach._

_Skyquake then asked her to show him all the moves her creators had taught her. It didn't take very long. Bullwing had listened to her femme creator, Tetrastar, and had not instructed her in anything except for a few defensive moves in the martial arts._

_"Is that all you know?" Skyquake asked incredulously, his deep voice rumbling. "Alright. We will start at the beginning then. Try to copy my movements."_

_He didn't seem to think she would succeed, but began to move in a simple pattern, his bulky form blending from one position to the next in a surprisingly graceful manner, before finishing and returning to a standing position. He nodded to her and she mirrored the move, though nowhere near so smoothly, or without mistake._

_"Do it again."_

_Complying, she started over only for Skyquake to interrupt her again._

_"Hold your position." He walked up to her and gently grabbed her wrist. She stiffened at the touch and glanced up at him. He locked his optics on hers for a moment before she nodded. Skyquake tilted her hand slightly and moved it inward a few inches. "With your hands at that angle, your opponent would easily have been able to knock your blows aside. Try again."_

_She worked on the same move for another five breems with Skyquake continuing to gently correct her mistakes, explaining each time why the mistake would be harmful. Finally, the mech seemed satisfied with her performance of the move and they repeated the process with the next one._

_They continued the session for three groons then stopped. Her frame was warm from exertion, but she had a sense of accomplishment and confidence that she had not felt for more than a quartex._

_"Skyquake, sir? When will I be expected to return?"_

_"You are making good progress. I will see you here again on the seventh rotation of this orn. In the future, training sessions will take place four times in an orn; I will send a notification on the appropriate rotations." He looked at her, optics twinkling slightly, almost so that she didn't notice. "Between sessions I suggest that you practice."_

_And so it happened. She made sure that whenever she practiced she always did so in the same training room they used for the sessions though. During her 'practicing', she couldn't help but notice that the large mech was always nearby; ready to help her in any way needed._

She saw no one else until the end of the rotation, when Cliffjumper came once again with her fuel ration. Terabyte felt an urge to bombard him with the questions that had piled up in her processor over the course of the day, but somehow managed to restrain herself.

She settled with the off-hand comment of, "You know Cliffjumper, the decorations in this place are severely lacking."

The red mech chuckled, "Sorry about that. You ready to have those systems disabled yet? Of course, we don't mind too much if you'd rather just sit and rust in here…"

Terabyte wondered if they would seriously let her out if she allowed her systems to be disabled. From what Cliffjumper was saying, they would; but Arcee had looked like she'd rather just rip Terabyte to shreds once she was defenseless.

Choosing to ignore his query, she asked instead, "Remember how you'd asked if I needed anything yesterday? Well, I've thought about it… Could I have a datapad? Or something to read?"

"Sorry girl. Nothing I can do about that either. Security reasons."

_'How could giving me a __**datapad**__ possibly make me more of security risk?! Seriously!' _Out loud she only said, "Oh. I see."

After sitting in awkward silence with her Energon for several klicks, Terabyte let one of her questions loose, trying to maintain a casual tone. "I heard a lot of commotion this morning, what happened?"

For the next groon, Cliffjumper filled her in on the morning's events, first telling her how Optimus and Ratchet had left to investigate an ancient battle-field in the Grand Canyon area. Apparently when they got there, Megatron had raised the dead using the Dark Energon. The Prime and Ratchet had fought and somehow defeated the zombie army before Megatron flew off, warning them of his bigger plans.

Terabyte wondered just what the Lord Protector's bigger plans were exactly. With Dark Energon involved, no matter what the plan, it was bound to be nasty for the Autobots. She looked forward to seeing it; though not without a small amount of fear: as a 'defector' it could very well be nasty for her too…

While Prime and Ratchet were doing that, a government agent had come to base and discovered the human children. According to Cliffjumper, they had been the cause for the audial torture that morning, it was supposed to be their form of music. Cliffjumper wasn't exactly sure on all the details of what had happened, but in the end the man, Fowler was his name, left only to be captured by Laserbeak and taken to the Nemesis for questioning.

Bulkhead and the kids went to rescue him and met up with Cliffjumper, Arcee, and Bumblebee inside the ship. The three had gone straight to Bulkhead's position after discovering the base's emptiness when they returned from patrol. Terabyte listened as Cliffjumper gave a wild account of the battle that ensued when they were discovered. In the end, they retrieved Fowler, who was delirious from the torture, and the kids had somehow managed to bring back data from the Nemesis' bridge.

Cliffjumper said Ratchet was currently studying the data in an attempt to determine just what it was for, though they had identified it as engineering specs for something big.

When the red mech had finally finished, Terabyte was silent. She thought over all that she'd missed and filed it away into her memory files. Better to get it second-hand than not at all.

"Wow... That's a lot to process." the little black and dark blue femme said finally, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn. It was a little surprising that she could be so tired when she hadn't done anything.

"So... You never did answer my question... About your systems." Cliffjumper mentioned offhandedly.

"No, I didn't." She replied contentedly.

"So..." He prompted, sounding on the brink of annoyance.

"Good cycle, Cliffjumper." Her tone remained steadily unconcerned, and a small mischievous smile graced her lip-plates. Unbeknownst to her, Terabyte's optics twinkled merrily.

"Aww, c'mon! This is getting ridiculous! We've been nothing but kind to you this whole time! What makes you think that'll change?" Steel gray hands went up in exasperation. "Besides, I trusted you to fix me up, you ought to trust me."

_'Play logical femme for a bit...' _She thought happily. She hadn't let herself have fun for a while.

"Your point is invalid. _You_ never had a choice and-"

"You don't want to have a choice? Fine. Mr. Nice-guy's done."

_'Logic tactic: Failed.' _Her previous amusement slid away rapidly. This was not a mech to mess with.

Before she could react, the mech stormed up to her and tore off the armored panel on the back of her neck, exposing the wires to her communications network. Swiftly and skillfully Cliffjumper cut the appropriate wires, instantly disabling her systems.

As Terabyte felt the long-range sensors go offline, she realized suddenly that the mech was experienced with this. In fact, that probably was his job. Terabyte frowned in confusion; Why'd he wait so long?

While she puzzled over the question, Cliffjumper moved on to the next system and unlatched the prelim-armor on her right forearm. He then placed a security lock that rendered her dagger useless. After that, he locked her subspace and forcibly taking her cannon -painfully snapping the clamps that held it in place in the process- and stalked out of her cell.

"I was trying to avoid doing that. You should have cooperated." He told her, his voice hard, before he left without even a glance back at her.

Shocked, Terabyte slowly put each piece of armor that he'd torn away back on and set her self-repairs in action. She wasn't entirely sure why the usually nonchalant warrior had been so easily provoked, but it felt almost reassuring to her; _that_ was how Autobots were supposed to act.

Her reassurance was slightly dimmed by the memory of his parting words. His voice had held an edge to it, as if his actions had actually hurt him. Pained and remorseful.

After thinking about it for a while, Terabyte laughed humorlessly. Even in showing their true colors, the Autobots couldn't help but maintain a few shreds of their facade of noble kindness.

"'We believe in peace for all' they tell you, even as they murder you in your sleep." She muttered darkly to herself.

Before shutting down for the night, Terabyte raised a proximity alarm that would wake her if anyone came with in ten meters of her. After that experience, she certainly didn't want any of the Autobots to find her shut down and helpless in recharge. Who knew what they would do to her.

_She was back in Protihex, in her family's mid-size apartment at the spire's peak. She could hear her sire's rumbling baritone, accompanied by her carrier's sweet crystal-clear soprano. Her own voice, similar to her carrier's, though slightly lower, blended with theirs as they sang one of their favorite Protihexian melodies together. Just like they always had._

_She knew in her processor that it was all a dream, but as she sat in her sire's warm embrace, feeling the rise and fall of his chassis with each vent, the thrum of his spark... She allowed herself to melt into its comfort anyway._

_The scent of Tetrastar's diamond roses wafted through the room, mingled with the noises of younglings playing in the levels below them. Watching the moons' light dancing on the walls, she focused on the words they sang; words she hadn't thought of in what felt like an eternity._

_**Ages come and ages go,**_

_**On and on an endless flow.**_

_**Battles raging , vict'ries won**_

_**Have no effects... **_

_**In sweet Protihex.**_

_**Storms around us, peace within,**_

_**Sparks of loved ones, sparks of kin,**_

_**Never lost, for all are one.**_

_**In each of our sparks...**_

The proximity alert rang through her processor, jolting Terabyte awake and back into reality. It had been such a lovely dream... She growled angrily, according to her internal chronometer, it was the middle of the night cycle. Who had interrupted her sleep and why?

Terabyte jumped off the berth and trudged over to the front of the cell, armor flared in anger. Looking around, she located and identified the offender. Arcee; she was leaning on the far wall, shadows wrapped around her.

Automatically, Terabyte raised her left arm, only to lower the bare appendage quickly, her frame heating with embarrassment when she remembered that Cliffjumper had confiscated her cannon. Hopefully Arcee hadn't noticed that.

"Why?" The other femme asked coldly, the steely blue glow of her optics lighting her face-plate eerily.

"Why, what?" Terabyte snapped. Logic centers still sluggish, Terabyte lashed out. "By all rights _I _should be asking _you_! Whatever you wanted could have waited till morning! But _no... _you had to come in here, in the _middle of the night_, and disturb my recharge to ask me _stupid _questions!"

Luckily, Terabyte managed to snap her vocalizer off with hiss of static before the fact that all she wanted was to go back to her dream slipped out in her ranting. Arcee could never be allowed to know that, it would only be a weakness.

"'By all rights' you have no rights." the blue and pink femme retorted, taking a menacing step forward. Terabyte could almost feel the tension in the Autobot's slender frame. After a few moments of simmering silence, she rephrased her demand, "Why did you save him?"

Taken slightly aback by the pure fury thinly veiled by her cold tone, Terabyte's vocalizer seemed to go on autopilot, spewing the predetermined cover story she'd memorized.

"I'd considered defecting to the Autobots for many vorns, ever since Cybertron began to die. But I was always too scared to. If I got caught, I'd have been executed for treason. Then we captured Cliffjumper, and I saw my chance. I repaired him little by little and when an opportunity arrived, I removed the low-level dampening field on him so you could detect his energy signal. You were there for the rest."

"I don't care how it happened! I asked you why!" She said, her voice rising to somewhere just below a yell. Battle blades slid out of Arcee's forearms, the razor sharp edges glinting in the faint light.

"I wanted to defect! I got sick of fighting for a dead cause!" Terabyte yelled the lies in response, annoyance escalating into defensive aggression as Arcee adopted a more threatening posture. Though Terabyte's voice grew louder and angrier, her dark armor could be seen to flatten marginally against her frame.

"You're a 'Con! You're not supposed to save people. All you do is kill; War is sport to you!" As she spoke, the femme swung her arms through the air fast enough that the air hissed around the exposed blades with each swing. Ironic. She would have said the same of the Autobots, if not for her mission.

"And you're an Autobot! YOU aren't supposed to hate people just because of the insignia they wear!"

At that reminder the slightly taller Autobot femme's entire frame sagged and the battle blades retracted, her next angry accusation audibly dying in her vocalizer. Terabyte glared at her, a smug, victorious smile tugging at her mouth in spite of her slight fear of the warrior femme. It was probably a very good thing that Arcee couldn't see past the mask.

"Why didn't you kill him?" Arcee asked again, no longer shouting, but pacing agitatedly instead.

"I told you. He gave me a way out that actually had a chance of succeeding." Terabyte tanks churned at the traitorous words, but she determinedly maintained the masquerade.

Her golden optics followed Arcee's steps warily; her own aggressive stance relaxing towards mere caution at what seemed to indicate the near-end of the Autobot femme's outburst.

"So he's just a _tool_ to you?" Or not... the taller two-wheeler's voice rose back to the previous volume and her pacing stopped abruptly.

Attempting to formulate an answer that would satisfy the other femme and drawing an incredibly unhelpful blank, Terabyte didn't answer.

"What did you do to him? Why does he trust you?" Her tone was biting and accusatory. Blue optics locked with gold; the unspoken challenge making Terabyte's armor clamp down against her protoform even further.

The annoyance of her interrupted dream was forgotten and replaced with intimidation and the need for self-preservation. Arcee's ability to break through her outward wall of calm only served to intensify Terabyte's inner fears.

"I didn't _do _anything to him! If he trusts me, your guess is as good as mine why."

"You shouldn't have saved him. He's _my _partner, and it was _my _job to save him! You should have left him alone. You'll NEVER be an Autobot!"

"What-? I wasn't... I never- That's absurd!" She sputtered as the reality of Arcee's own fears hit her in full force.

Arcee stormed out, completely deaf to her protests, leaving Terabyte to sit in the solitary silence that now seemed more deafening than any words could. Try as she might, Terabyte didn't fall back into recharge; her dream slipping away into no more than a vague, mistily comforting memory.


	6. A Change of Standing

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 6**

**A Change of Standing**

_Orns had passed into vorns and she found herself spending most of her time with Skyquake. For some reason, she felt attached to the huge green jet. Maybe it was because he reminded her of her sire, Bullwing... she still wasn't entirely sure why she liked him._

_It had taken a long time, but he had finally begun to warm up to her._

_Nearly a vorn after her arrival, she noticed subtle changes in how he acted towards her. The more relaxed way he held his wings, his rare jokes popping around more often, the ever-so-slight quirk of his lip-plates whenever she talked to her console (which, since he still didn't talk much, she usually did a lot...)..._

_Eventually, Skyquake had returned her friendship and acted himself around her._

_She figured she probably knew the jet better than any other mech alive. Which was really saying something, since even then she didn't know him very well. She had been immensely surprised when she discovered Skyquake's sense of humor in full throttle. He was a master of deadpan and dry remarks, but his Starscream impersonations trumped all._

"_Mighty Megatron, you know that your voice is like the sweetest music to my unworthy audios…" Skyquake recited, his low rumbling voice somehow pitched in the perfect high whine characteristic of the Air Commander._

"_No… He didn't really say that did he?" She asked incredulously, a morbid grin tugging on her mouth as she considered what Megatron's response would no doubt have been. Skyquake nodded, his ruby optics shining._

_As they continued down the corridor, Skyquake rested his hand on her shoulder, still relating Starscream's latest report of yet another botched mission. Her attention was slightly divided as she tried to ignore her screaming back and pede struts; the weight of Skyquake's relaxed servo being a bit much for her slender frame to support._

"…_And at that point, Lord Megatron's optics are starting to fritz and his fists and denta are clenched so tightly I could almost hear his own armor buckling under the strain…"_

"_Uh… Skyquake? If you don't move your hand, you'll be hearing __**my**__ armor buckling…" She said chuckling in a now-somewhat-strained manner. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have heard her; he was too caught up in the story-telling by that point._

_A couple mechs that were with them in the corridor were staring and chuckling at her predicament. None of them could be bothered to help her out though; the scene was too entertaining to be worth interrupting the hulking green jet. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she turned her full attention back to Skyquake._

"…_and Starscream's down on his knee struts, begging for his spark. 'Great Leader! Spare your most humble and faithful servant! Your wish is my command; I won't fail you again-!" Skyquake mimicked, his wings trembling comically to accompany the Starscream voice._

_In spite of herself, she snickered at the dramatic expression and posture Skyquake had assumed in his mockery. The number of observers had increased as they were now in the mess hall. She was a little bit surprised that the large green mech beside her hadn't raised his usual facade; generally he'd revert to dull military commander mode in public._

"…_You wouldn't believe how badly Lord Megatron pounded him. When he was finished he ordered me to carry Starscream to medical. It took nearly a groon just to convince Knockout that the pile of scrap I'd brought in was actually Starscream!" Skyquake roared with laughter, patting her shoulder 'lightly'._

_Skyquake turned to the femme that was now on the floor beside his pedes. He began to worry when she didn't move or respond in any way._

"_Uh… Terabyte?" He knelt down and nudged her lightly. The blue and black femme rolled over limply, and Skyquake noticed that her bio-lights had dimmed; indicating that she was unconscious. The jet groaned in dismay. "Oh. Not again… I really need to stop doing that…"_

When Cliffjumper never came with her Energon, Terabyte began to worry that the other Autobots were of the same opinion as Arcee. They'd already gotten all the information they thought she had… Maybe now they were going to get rid of her. Especially since she was now vulnerable. Would they exile her? Put her in permanent stasis lock? Just kill her outright?

Her worries only escalated when she saw Ratchet coming down the corridor. His armor had a concerned sort of flare to it, but Terabyte's own fears blinded her to that fact. The medic mutely shut down the force-field and entered.

Frame gone stiff, Terabyte backed away from the much taller mech. She fought the urge to clamp down her armor. She drew a small comfort from the fact that her consistently flared armor gave the impression of being a bit larger than she really was.

Ratchet seemed slightly pained by her obvious fear of him, but Terabyte's processor discarded the observation without much consideration. As the medic came closer, Terabyte felt her dorsal plating press flat against the cold steel wall of the prison cell. Instinct drove her movements now, medics knew too much; Ratchet could tear her apart piece by piece with knowledge of exactly where to attack to create the most pain. She'd had enough bad experiences with medics to know.

The Decepticons were fighting for a good cause, but no medic – be it Decepticon, Autobot, or even neutral – could be trusted. Terabyte raised her hands into a defensive position, preparing herself to fight for her spark.

"Oh don't be daft. I'm not going to attack you." Ratchet grumbled.

She stared at him distrustfully, not altering her stance. "You're a _medic_."

"I'm not one of your 'Con butchers. I don't hurt mechs, I fix them." He said, raising his own arms non-threateningly. He took a small step back, still between her and the only exit.

"I don't care what your faction is. It makes no difference; you're a medic." Terabyte spat. How dare he assume that the Decepticons were the only medics untrustworthy? Medics would do anything to save their own chassis. Their only loyalties were to themselves.

"Fine; you'll figure it out later. I don't have time to make you trust me. Hold out your arms, I'm going to restrain you." While he spoke he pulled out a set of energy cuffs. Not nearly as effective as stasis cuffs, they allowed for semi-free movements. However, they also could send a jolt of electricity through the wearer's frame causing temporary paralysis by the press of button.

"Why...?" Having felt the energy discharge of that kind of cuff before, Terabyte was understandably reluctant to comply. That and he was a medic, her processor reminded her stubbornly. A small part of her frowned on her single-track thought pattern. Normally she would consider the reasonable options, but this was different. They could not be trusted and no amount of reasoning could change that.

"A high casualty rate is expected when the team returns. The repairs you did on Cliff' were... done relatively well... so I would assume you have a _basic_ understanding of medical procedures. In short, your assistance is required. Now hold out your arms." The medic begrudgingly acknowledged her skills, but his voice never wavered from the gruff grouchiness.

His temper, obviously having a very short fuse, seemed to be running out uncomfortably fast. Terabyte held out her arms and allowed the medic to restrain her, fearing what he would do if she didn't.

"These restraints will allow a small range of motion. With this device," Ratchet held up a small box with several controls, including a large red button over which his finger was hovering. "I can send-"

"An electrical pulse through my frame which will temporarily paralyze me. I am familiar with standard restraints. You mentioned a probability of casualties, sir?" Terabyte interrupted, eager to just get on with it.

Ratchet grunted and led her to the ground-bridge chamber, watching her closely the whole time. Once in the chamber, the red and white mech ordered her to place her hand on one of the medical berths. As soon as she had, he magnetized the berth, effectively making sure Terabyte wouldn't be going anywhere.

Terabyte scowled at the medic's rather crude methods. She tried at first to see what Ratchet was doing at the console on the upper level, but from her position couldn't get a clear line of sight. Her arm was twisted in a rather uncomfortable angle, so Terabyte shifted her stance, allowing her to relax her arm in a more natural way. With no way of leaving due to her magnetized hand, Terabyte waited. She couldn't even sit down due to the berth being magnetized. If she was planning on getting back up any time soon anyway.

Ratchet was talking to someone over a comm. link. She was still somewhat confused as to why the Autobots all _spoke_ into their comms. It wasn't like it was necessary; the communications all came through visually on their HUDs... Probably some weird Autobot form of courtesy to make them feel better about themselves.

The ground-bridge activated suddenly, and Terabyte stiffened, preparing to be the medical aid that Ratchet needed. If she could help, there was a chance that she could at least gain the benefit-of-the-doubt. Any amount of progress in her status would be welcomed.

The small blue and black femme watched the humans run through and head straight up to where Ratchet was working. Terabyte relaxed - as much as she ever did in the presence of others. As she waited, she imagined all the different things that she could have been- or was obviously missing out on. Terabyte sighed after a breem of contemplations that had become less and less likely and more and more fantastical. There was nothing she hated more than being kept out of the loop. She _needed_ to know what was going on!

Just then the ground-bridge activated again, bringing Terabyte instantly to the ready once again, her frame springing tight and straight. She winced a little as her arm twisted too fast; she'd forgotten about that... This time it was the Autobots that came through, Bumblebee holding an unconscious Arcee. Optimus Prime was also looking rather beat up, but aside from that there were only minor scuffs and dents.

Miko, Raf, and Jack all ran to their guardians, greeting them and making sure they were alright. Terabyte felt her hand come free from the berth as Bumblebee laid Arcee down. She glanced at Ratchet, who had seemingly materialized next to the berth and was scanning the other femme carefully.

"Start taking care of the others' repairs." Ratchet told her, glaring at Cliffjumper as he spoke. "And for goodness' sake, Cliffjumper! Go _away_! I can't work with you hovering in my way!"

"You're not making Jack move." The red mech pouted, crossing his arms and standing stubbornly in place.

"Jack is only 5'9". You are about four times that. And _he's _not being a nuisance. Now go away."

Intervening before Cliffjumper could continue arguing, Terabyte grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away from where Arcee lay limp. Using the small magnetic tool she'd picked up from Ratchet's table, Terabyte slowly and carefully worked out the dents in Cliffjumper's red armor. The mech took a moment to glare at the energy cuffs wrapped around her small wrists before his attention returned again to Arcee.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" He asked her quietly, wincing as a particularly large dent popped out.

"I'm not a medic. I wouldn't know." Terabyte shrugged, "She'll probably be-"

"Jack, really. There are other motorcycles in the world." Arcee's voice interrupted her mid-sentence. Terabyte turned toward where the femme had woken up and was now looking at Jack with a little smirk. The other femme sat up slowly, moving carefully so she didn't knock Jack off of the Cybertronian berth.

Cliffjumper was at Arcee's side helping the blue and pink femme to her feet in seconds.

Once he was sure Arcee was recovering nicely and in good hands, Ratchet looked at the Prime questioningly. "And Megatron?"

"Not even he could have survived ground zero."

Her spark clenched, and her engine choked loudly. Lord Megatron... Dead? That couldn't be true. Ground zero; that meant the Autobots blew something up... They had gotten the schematics for the space-bridge... Terabyte's processor slowly connected all the dots, leaving her to stare at the Prime in disbelief. Of course the Autobots would have blown it up but... How could Megatron be dead? What would happen to the Decepticons now? A new voice cut into her thoughts, bringing her out of her stupor.

"Prime. I didn't get to thank you bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do."

She located the speaker just as he left the building. It was a full-grown human, slightly on the heavy side - she assumed so anyway, Terabyte hadn't had much interaction with humans - with dark skin and a gray suit. She guessed that the man was the one they'd called Fowler. He must have woken from the delirious state Cliffjumper had mentioned.

"So is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?" Miko asked Optimus.

"A little late for that isn't it?" Bulkhead asked hopefully. Optimus nodded in agreement.

When the conversation seemed to be falling towards less important things, Terabyte returned to her thoughts. With Megatron's death, the Decepticons would be without strong leadership. Starscream would be in charge, and who knew how much he would want to change. Terabyte doubted Soundwave would let Starscream lead her people into chaos. Soundwave was far too loyal to Megatron to allow his memory to be so dishonored as the Air Commander no doubt wanted. She would need to report as soon as possible to confirm her mission and be briefed on any alterations that may be made though. How she would manage that remained uncertain.

"Terabyte." Optimus's voice drew her attention back to the present once again. The little femme looked up at the Autobot leader guardedly, though not without the proper respect. "With the loss of your leader, the Decepticons will be in chaos, am I right?"

Terabyte nodded slowly, wondering just where the Prime was going. Surely it was too soon for them to offer defection? But if they were… that would be a huge step forward. But it was still too soon; what did they really want from her?

"This will certainly change your standing with the Decepticons." He paused as if to gauge her reaction to his words before continuing, "It is time for you to make a decision: Will you leave the Decepticons and join our cause or will you return to the Nemesis?"

She blinked. They would let her go? Yeah right… "I have a choice?" She scoffed, gesturing to the six Autobots around her, most of them nearly half again her size.

"We will not stop you if you wish to leave. You do not know the coordinates of our base, you are not a threat." Terabyte repressed a shudder at the Prime's confidence in that fact. "We are also willing to give you a chance to change your ways; to defect."

Already knowing how she would answer in spite of her suspicion – the Autobots may have given her a chance to go home, but her mission did not allow her that option – Terabyte stalled to give the impression of carefully considering the offer. She stared at her angled pedes, scuffing the floor thoughtfully. Finally she decided that she'd 'thought' about it long enough and raised her helm determinedly.

"I wish to defect."

Optimus Prime's optics lit up with an emotion Terabyte couldn't quite name, and then he made one last offer, though his voice had a slightly dull monotonous ring that suggested it was only for record's sake.

"It will not be an easy process. You cannot expect us to blindly trust you, and your status will remain that of a paroled prisoner until you have proven yourself earnest." He warned, taking a step toward her.

Every wire in her frame screamed for Terabyte to back away, but stiffening her minutely mechly – in that they splayed outward at the knees – pedes, the two-wheeler stood her ground, maintaining a submissive posture. In order to succeed, she needed to be cooperative.

"If I may ask, what are the conditions of this parole? Sir?"

"Ratchet will place a small tracking device on you. Your location will be monitored closely at all times. You will not be allowed to go anywhere without an escort, and we will expect you to follow any and all orders without argument. Until our trust has been earned, you will not have access to any subspace, weapons, or communications systems except when on patrol." As he spoke, the scarlet and blue mech removed her restraints, giving them to Cliffjumper to put away until needed again.

"So I will be sent on patrols? With an escort, of course." She hastily tacked on the last bit, so they wouldn't misunderstand her motives. If they were to misunderstand, it would mean that her true intent would be suspected.

"Yes. Your first patrol will be fourth rotation next orn at 0900. Now, are the terms of your parole understood? Any infringement of these terms will result in your returning to the brig until further notice. Is that clear?"

Terabyte glanced over at the other Autobots. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were talking with the kids happily, though she noticed that they were also paying close attention to the Prime's words.

Cliffjumper was very studiously polishing his scratch-free shoulder guard while Arcee glared at the 'ex-Decepticon' femme mutinously. Obviously she didn't agree with Optimus' decision, and occasionally said something to Cliff' about it. The red warrior's only response to her comments was to polish a bit harder.

Ratchet was nowhere to be seen, but Terabyte guessed that he was preparing the tracking device for implanting. She briefly wondered if the procedure would hurt much. Not that it mattered, she would go through it either way.

"I understand, sir. All my actions will be monitored and restricted. Suspicious activities will result in incarceration. I will strive to earn your trust, and I will obey any and all orders." Terabyte's voice was neutrally submissive as she summarized the conditions that the Prime had laid out for her.

The success of her mission depended on these next orns. Her work had begun at last. There was no backing out now; she could not fail.

**A.N. Hurray! Another chapter done! How are you guys liking the story so far? Comments, reviews and constructive criticism is very much welcome!**

**Oh… Poor Skyquake! I'm really enjoying writing those little flashbacks! **

**I don't know, would you call this a cliffie? I suppose most all of my chapters have been cliffhangers though, so you're all pretty much used to this right? Cliffies make me feel so powerful… Mhuahahaha! *awkward silence* Ahem... Sorry about that. ;P**


	7. Strict Freedom

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 7**

**Strict Freedom**

_She raced down the streets in her Cybertronian alt-mode: a sleek, angular bike with two rear tires. Her headlights lit the road in front of her as she sped through the south district of Kaon; towards the emergency medical center._

_When she arrived, the little femme ran to the receptionist and demanded entrance to room thirty-seven beta. The receptionist was a silver-colored small – meaning only a helm taller than her – civilian mech. But she didn't particularly care after a dozen attempts - of varying politeness - to gain entry. _

_She stomped around the counter and lifted the light-weight mech a few inches off the ground, her desperation fueling her strength. Shaking the mech harshly, she asked him one last time._

"_I can't! I'm sorry! The doc will have my helm if I let you in!" The mech whined pathetically as she shook him._

_Her patience worn far too thin, the spy femme slammed his helm into the wall. He crumpled to the floor in a silver heap. She didn't take the time to check if he was conscious or not before she ran to thirty-seven beta._

_At the end of the correct corridor, she nearly ran into Shadowlight, a femme with monotone armor; one of the medical staff. _

"_Is he going to be alright? I received a message saying that Commander Skyquake was badly injured. The message stated that his life-signs were going critical." Miraculously, she managed to keep her tone neutral, that of a mildly concerned subordinate. Later that orn she had tried to figure out how she had done so, but no answer came. Thank the Allspark for small mercies._

"_He's stabilized. You can visit the commander if you like, but he is resting." The jet femme replied calmly._

"_Thanks."_

_She entered the surgical bay slowly, immediately catching a glimpse of Skyquake. Her tanks churned painfully at the sight of twisted and charred armor. There was also a huge amount of newly replaced armor, the dull unpainted gray clashing with his army green. The amount of damage he'd sustained was sickening._

_After three rotations, Skyquake was discharged from the medical center and put on light duty. During those three rotations, she stayed with Skyquake while he recharged, not even leaving for fuel. He only woke up once in that time and he didn't stay awake for very long._

"_Optimus... battle at Technahar... unsuccessful. Failed..." He had muttered upon waking, though not fully awake._

"_Skyquake!" Her excitement and worry laced her voice as she grabbed his hand in both of hers; rank all but forgotten."Thank goodness you're alright. What happened?" Her tone grew dark, "Who did this to you?"_

"_'erabyte..." The mech gave a contented sigh and fell back into recharge, a tiny smile touching his face-plates. Still holding his hand in hers, she smiled at Skyquake before her own exhaustion from her race across Kaon finally caught up to her. _

_When Shadowlight entered to check on them a few groons later, she found Skyquake deep in recharge with the Prussian blue femme still sitting in the chair beside his berth. The little two-wheeler was collapsed and recharging peacefully against the mech's arm._

It wasn't long after her conversation with the Prime that Ratchet was ready to implant the tracking device. Although Terabyte was still wary of the medic, she obediently followed Ratchet to the med-bay.

"Where will the tracking device be placed, Medic?" She asked slowly as she sat on the designated berth. Terabyte's gaze locked onto the small device in his hands; it didn't look dangerous, neither did the tools the red and white medic was holding. That didn't necessarily mean anything though.

"Under your dorsal plating." The mech motioned for her to lay front-first on the berth.

Reluctantly, Terabyte obeyed and lay down and braced herself for the no doubt painful procedure to begin. She shouldn't have her back to a medic. She'd have to have a death wish... But here she was. Her frame was incredibly stiff and her systems were beginning to overheat, but she refused to cycle air any faster. Sensing the medic's approach, she would have tensed further if it had been physically possible.

"Would you like to be offlined for this?" Ratchet's voice was surprisingly gentle, but the suggestion only terrified the little spy further. Who was to say they wouldn't just leave her off? They would be able to do any number of things to her and she'd never know.

"No!" Terabyte took in a deep draft of air and vented it slowly to compose herself. "No, I'll stay_ on_line, thanks."

Ratchet nodded, though she couldn't see the action. She felt his fingers pry open the control panel between her shoulder wheels. Moments after that, Terabyte felt her whole frame relax against her will; she had been immobilized. Her armor lay against her protoform in a way that made her feel small and vulnerable. She rarely _didn't_ have her armor flared at least a little bit. The only mech she truly relaxed around was Skyquake.

Terabyte repressed a low whine of her engine; she had agreed to cooperate, and she _would_ keep her word. She could feel everything that Ratchet did, though it bothered her that she couldn't tell what he was actually doing. She felt him remove a section of her armor from the center of her back, and then attach the device to one of her spinal struts.

Soon the installment was complete and the tracking device's signal registered on her HUD. Ratchet closed her up and re-mobilized Terabyte's frame. She sat up, instantly rearranging her armor back to her liking. The device was small enough that it couldn't be felt unless she tried, however the signal it sent was rather annoying.

"I'm not finished yet." The medic said quietly, pulling a hand-sized hub from his subspace.

She recognized the object instantly and recoiled at what it suggested. It allowed for a one-way sync with someone's processor; providing safety only to the mech performing the scan. Ratchet was going to scan her... But what for? Why now? Seeming to read her thoughts – which if she cooperated with the scan, he would be able to – Ratchet supplied the answer to her questions.

"Your malware and antiviral systems will attack the foreign material. To make sure that doesn't happen I need to adjust those systems. There's only one way to do that." He held up a small cord and looked down at the hub.

Knowing that she had to connect to the device first, Terabyte pulled out her own cord and stared at it like it was something disgusting. With a resigned sigh, she plugged it into the proper slot, bracing herself for the inevitable helm-ache and mental intrusion that would soon begin.

Ratchet likewise plugged his cord in and hardly an astro-second later Terabyte's firewalls had automatically risen and her processor was filled with the pressure of Ratchet's mind. The small femme let out a half-stifled gasp; she'd never been on the receiving end of a processor sync, normally she just hacked her Autobot prisoners' minds. It was different when it was her mind being invaded, and it hurt more than she'd imagined it could.

_'Lower your firewalls or I'll have to hack in.' _Ratchet thought to her. Disgust rolled through her processor from the medic; the idea of hacking her was apparently unpleasant to him.

Terabyte lowered the firewalls as ordered, giving an involuntary shudder as his mental presence flooded her now-unshielded mind. Instinctual panic was followed by anger at her own lack of mental restraint filled her thoughts, no doubt Ratchet could feel every passing feeling, every wisp of her innermost secrets now laid bare.

Every Autobot she'd interrogated in this manner came to her recollection, their horrified and agonized expressions making much more sense now.

Struggling to clear her mind, Terabyte was disgusted to find her thoughts only clarifying. Feeling as though her very spark had been opened up to the medic, abject terror sunk in to her core. In her panic, her processors reconstructed the well-known replica of her home which had initially been dropped when the medic filled her mind; she was in her territory now.

All reason abandoned, the little two-wheeler raced through the streets of Protihex before it was demolished, finding her favorite spot as a youngling. The illusion filled her mind, and as Terabyte hid in the center of the jade forest she could feel Ratchet's awe wash over her.

The scent of the wild crystal flowers and the gentle song of the wind through the branches. Now in a familiar place, she was able to calm down and listen to reason. Raising a thick, impenetrable barrier of distrust around herself as she curled up into a defensive ball in her mind, her thoughts were masked from the intruder. The medic made no attempts to speak to her for a while as she regained her mental composure. Finally when she felt her thoughts were restrained enough, Terabyte addressed Ratchet with an empty tone.

_'I apologize sir. Where do you need to go?' _

_'You ask as though you had a choice. I could just find it myself.' _Ratchet countered, although he seemed to radiate sorrowful compassion.

Terabyte scoffed at the plainly false compassion. As if a medic could have a spark. She didn't care if Ratchet could hear her opinion of him; she'd already made it clear. Autobots maybe she could learn to trust, but a medic? Never.

This last line of thought was added on to deceive Ratchet into thinking it was mostly him that she didn't trust. He wouldn't be able to see her hatred towards all Autobot kind, Soundwave had known she couldn't repress that entirely and had put appropriate precautions.

_'Fine then. Go ahead and fragment my processor, it's not like I could defend myself. You supposedly don't hurt the defenseless; that's why I'm defecting. You're supposed to be the good guys.' _Her mental tone was falsely saddened, her true thoughts locked away by Soundwave's undetectable shield. It was too bad that his shield hadn't hidden more of her emotions.

_'I need access to your internal defense programming. I will wait for you to make a path.' _Her antipathy seemed to have hurt the medic; his pain was only partially veiled. Terabyte felt almost sorry for the mech, he seemed so... used to being despised.

Shaking her helm, she put a golden highlight through the imagined jade forest leading to her old school building where her core programming was located. Her mind was nearly a perfect replica of Protihex, though here and there the details were faded and blurred. Places she couldn't remember were shrouded with a thick fog.

Ratchet followed her path slowly, gazing on her home city in the height of its glory. She could feel that he was more than a little impressed by the intricate illusion that was her processor. Terabyte couldn't help but feel a smug sense of pride. Her mind was all that remained of Protihex.

Editing her program was a simple enough procedure and, busy with the task, little more passed between them. Soon Ratchet withdrew from her mind and the dull ache that had begun pounding through her helm a few breems ago now threatened to overwhelm her. Movements sluggish, Terabyte detached herself from the device and laid her helm in her hands, caressing her helm gently.

She looked up quickly – and rather painfully – when she felt the medic slip something into her wrist. Watching him warily she moved to remove whatever it was when the aching was considerably blunted. Pain chip. Relief and exhaustion swept through her and Terabyte lowered helm back down to the table, shuttering her optics and taking in a deep draft of cool air.

"That was your first sync wasn't it?"

Terabyte lifted her gaze slowly send a withering glare at the red and white mech as he watched her sympathetically. After almost a klick, she returned her helm to the table and groaned quietly. Let him think what he wanted.

Soundwave of course had synced with her – he did with all his subordinates, to install higher security firewalls – but she was positive it hadn't been like that. Although, when she really thought about it, she couldn't remember much at all about that sync. Just that it wasn't unpleasant. Terabyte vaguely wondered if the gap in her memory ought to worry her, but it didn't; not really.

"I was... unprepared. Hacking someone's processor is very different from being hacked yourself." She muttered. "Are you done _now_?"

Hearing a grunt that she took to mean yes, Terabyte stood up slowly and walked out of the medical area, eager to get away from the medic. Medics always brought pain. It was better to just do things herself; she could trust herself.

**Mid-afternoon of the next rotation**

After a good recharge, she had recovered almost completely. Terabyte had returned to her cell for the night, supposedly because her living arrangements had yet to be decided. She figured it was more likely that they just felt better with her locked away; the spy doubted the arrangement would change for quite some time.

She was standing quietly in the back of the room watching Bulkhead and Bumblebee play a video game with Miko and Raf when Cliffjumper approached. The humans had brought it, a game called Call of Duty. Terabyte wondered that the human younglings would enjoy such a war-like form of entertainment; the inhabitants of Earth truly were a blood-thirsty race.

Cybertronian sparklings and younglings certainly didn't 'play' by mercilessly murdering virtual versions of themselves… Or at least she never had… Her creators tried to keep her far away from anything related to war. They didn't want her to get involved. Terabyte often wondered if they'd still be proud of her; she hoped they would understand why she had to. After Protihex she hadn't had a choice... Had she?

"So… How's it going?" Cliffjumper asked casually. He had walked over next to her and was now leaning against the wall watching – as she was – the two Autobots and their charges play. Every now and then one of them would find another, which was generally followed by simulated gunfire and a exaggerated groan from the victim.

"Oh, fine." Terabyte replied sarcastically, "I'm really enjoying how much mechs have welcomed me. Being treated like I don't exist is just loads of fun. Outright hating me would be better than _this_."

If Cliffjumper surprised by her response, he did a very good job of hiding it. Ignoring her bad mood he gave her a winning smile, "My dear femme, may I have the honor of showing you the delights of our humble abode?"

"Um. That would be… nice?" Her voice hinted at an unspoken 'I hope?' The memory of her recent encounter with the mech made her remain slightly cautious. But she'd give him a chance. Maybe this was his way of trying to make up for that. Or probably just trying to make her let down her guard.

"Right this way then, my lady."

Terabyte raised an optic ridge at him as he made a dramatic bow before leading her through a corridor, pretending that her spark didn't twinge at the reminder of Skyquake. Cliffjumper's disregard of all things normal would definitely take getting used to. He didn't seem to care that she was a prisoner, or that she'd not even been there for an orn.

Try as she did not to, Terabyte quite enjoyed the tour of the Autobot's base – as well as Cliffjumper's company. The mech spoke almost non-stop, but as she had nothing really to say, Terabyte didn't mind too much. The base wasn't really all that big, but his descriptions made even the near-empty cargo holds into things of great interest. Every room had its own story and Cliffjumper was determined to tell her all of them.

When they had almost made the circuit of the base, Terabyte began to wonder where the other Autobots were. The Prime was out on patrol, so his absence was no surprise, but the tour had taken at least a groon – Terabyte hadn't bothered to check her chronometer – surely they would have at least seen Ratchet or Arcee?

Of course, as soon as Terabyte decided to ask, they ran into Arcee… literally.

**A.N. Oooh that is so mean of me… But what will happen next? Will it be another explosion of Arcee's wrath? We shall have to wait and see… As usual, huge thanks to everyone who reviews!**

**Note- The following characters are property of Subterraneangem (a.k.a: Me). My OC's are not to be used without my permission. Ever.**

**Shadowlight- Can't decide if we'll see more of her or not. For right now I just wanted to use her because I liked her name.**

**Tetrastar and Bullwing- Terabyte's parents. They'll be popping around as such throughout the story. **

**Terabyte- Of course.**


	8. Crisis

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 8**

**Crisis**

"_This is important!" The voice of one of the higher ups shouted through Soundwave's recording. The mech's voice that was being used sounded like one of the drill sergeants. Maybe Sixshot? No longer using audial, she turned her gaze to her department head's holo-projection._

_It showed an Autobot base in Kalis from an aerial view; probably taken by Laserbeak or one of the other flying cassettes. The image zoomed in to the ground, showing an intricate defence grid, with several patrols in strategic positions. She examined the zone quickly and thoroughly before it moved on. Her mission was simple, yet would test all of her skills. _

_The little femme had gone on such missions before, but this time it was a rescue and a sabotage that she was to perform. To make matters worse, she wouldn't be going solo; she had a field medic assigned to her and another femme to act as the medic's bodyguard in case the captured mech was injured. At least she would be in charge. As long as she was in charge, the mission would be successful. The mech they were rescuing was one of their best spies, Makeshift. He had been posing as an Autobot commander, but was discovered when the real commander returned from his 'peace negotiations' early. Makeshift was also her mentor – everything she knew about her job, she'd learned from him - so she was determined to succeed. _

_When the photo of her assigned partner appeared on Soundwave's projection, the spy recognized her instantly; it was the femme from medical - Shadowlight? - that had looked after Skyquake. The other one came up as well but she didn't recognize her. She wasn't entirely sure why it was an all-femme team, but she guessed it probably had something to do with femmes being smaller, that and they all had dark paint jobs. They could sneak around much easier._

_The two-wheeler looked the two jets over quickly. They would be dispatched for the mission in five klicks. Both the femme jets were tall and thin, characteristic of Seekers. Their paint jobs were incredibly similar only inverted. Shadowlight was mostly silvery gray with black accents, while the other one was black with silvery gray accents. Although their alt-modes were different, they had almost identical features._

"_You two are sisters?" the Prussian blue femme asked, though the answer was pretty well obvious._

"_Yes ma'am." The black one answered smartly._

"_And your name is...?"_

"_Darkshine, ma'am."_

"_Ok, seriously. Cut it out with the 'ma'am' ing, please. If you need to address me, Terabyte will do just fine." She smiled behind her mask. It was kind of strange for an older femme to call her ma'am; she hadn't expected her promotion to Specialist would have put her above so many. Apparently some people were just fine with being ordinary grunts._

_**Final stages of the mission. Rotation 3 off base.**_

"_'Shine, get down! You'll be-"_

_Laser fire blasted through the air above her helm as she ducked out of the way. "-Sighted." She finished with a sigh. For all of Darkshine's respectful words, she really needed to work on following orders. They couldn't afford to lose the whole mission for one femme. Besides, Shadowlight could take care of herself, she just needed a little support. _

_Thankfully they had managed to knock out the Autobot's defences and communications, as well as rescuing Makeshift. He was now behind the boulder next to her with Shadowlight and Darkshine flying overhead. Their position was already given away, so the sisters were picking off as many troops as they could from above. The Autobots didn't stand a chance, as was clear a few klicks into the battle._

_/Terabyte – got a 'Bot incoming on your ri- nevermind, Makeshift got him – what do you think about throwing a little femme party at our place when we get back? Maybe pull an all-nighter, get to know each other better?/ Shadowlight asked, still blasting at the remaining Autobots._

_/Sounds fun. You have sweet En'?/ She asked as she shot an Autobot flier out of the skies with her cannon. _

_/Yup. What's a party without sweet Energon?/_

_/Then it's set. Party at your place starting after workshift!/ She shot the last mech who wasn't retreating - she never killed retreating mechs, the idea of doing so was sickening to her - before giving the order to return to base. Transforming, she shot off over the flat terrain, greatly looking forward to the arranged party. It really was surprising how well the three femmes had taken to each other in only three rotations._

Arcee had been holding a stack of datapads with a cube of Energon balanced precariously on top. The Autobot femme had just come back from the main room and was taking her fuel and some reports she needed to file to her quarters where she could work more comfortably. Focused intently on not dropping her load, Arcee didn't see the two mechs coming around the corner until it was too late.

For their part, Cliffjumper had just reached the climax of the story of how he and Arcee came to Earth when they rounded the corner. Terabyte had been listening to the story, enjoying his wild retelling of the venture, and didn't see Arcee until just a few astro-seconds after the fact.

Both groups were unaware of the other as they walked down the hallway, reaching the corner at just exactly the same moment. All Terabyte knew was that she was walking and then suddenly Arcee had walked right into her, dumping something wet all over her.

Cliffjumper leapt out of the way and very helpfully just stood there staring at the two-wheelers, waiting to see how they would react.

Arcee and Terabyte stared at each other unseeing for a while before what happened began to process. Arcee's datapads were scattered on the floor, the cracked screen of one flickering forlornly. Her Energon cube was shattered; its contents covering Terabyte's chassis and now rolling down one pede in rivulets.

Terabyte's lips curled in disgust, and although her mask hid it; her revulsion was clear. A similar expression touched Arcee's face-plates, though her disgust was directed at Terabyte, not the accident.

"Watch where you're going!" The femmes snarled simultaneously, which only made them madder. They both glared at the other, mutual dislike rolling of them almost tangibly. Cliffjumper chose that moment to make an attempt at breaking them apart before a fight started, which from the tension in the air between them seemed very likely.

Resting a restraining hand on Arcee's shoulder, he took a clean cloth from subspace and passed it to Terabyte; who was completely oblivious to the offer.

"Why don't we all just apologize and get this cleaned up. Then we can just move on and forget this-"

"You want _me_ to apologize to _her_? Like that's gonna happen! She," Terabyte interrupted angrily and at this point raised a finger to point accusingly at Arcee, "just dumped a whole cube of Energon on me, and you want _me_ to apologize?"

"I wouldn't have dropped it at all if you had been watching where you were going!" Arcee yelled back, shrugging off Cliffjumper's hand and balling her hands into fists.

"This is stupid. It's not worth fighti-" Once again, both femmes ignored the red mech's attempts to calm them, though his words did echo annoyingly through Terabyte's processor. He was right, they were being childish, but... It was _Arcee's_ fault!

"Oh so this is my fault then, is it?" Terabyte gestured at the energon dripping down her front and the broken datapads on the floor.

"Yes!" The blue and pink warrior looked down at her triumphantly.

Terabyte glared at the Autobot, fuming inside but not wanting to compromise her position. The Prussian blue femme forced herself into a submissive pose, the action being almost painful as every gear in her frame resisted. Her jaw tight, Terabyte bowed her helm slightly before she bent down and with strained care picked up the fallen datapads; handing them stiffly to the smug femme in front of her, not bothering to wipe the bright blue Energon from off her chassis first.

"Thank you Cliffjumper. It was a pleasant tour, and informative." Her voice was mechanical and empty aside from a light stress on 'was'. Her face-plates just below her optic twitched in frustration and reluctance. Inclining her helm respectfully to Arcee again, Terabyte continued in half-hearted obligation, "Arcee. Shall I bring you another Energon?"

"That's nice of you Terabyte, but that's okay. I'll get it for her." Cliffjumper replied quickly. He glanced between the two femmes anxiously.

"In that case, I apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused, and I will now excuse myself; with your permission of course." Terabyte specifically didn't say who caused the inconvenience, taking victory at least in that.

"Of course. We'll see you... later?" Cliffjumper again answered before Arcee had a chance, then pulled Arcee back the way they had just come.

When both Autobots were out of hearing range, Terabyte growled. Letting loose the fury she'd been restraining, the spy slammed her fist into the wall as hard as she could, leaving a human dodgeball-sized dent in the dull gray metal before stomping off to the wash racks.

The rest of the orn went relatively smoothly, Arcee's 'victory' making the other femme less antagonistic towards Terabyte for the most part. It was as if Arcee just needed to prove to herself and to Cliffjumper that she was superior to the ex-Decepticon. Although Terabyte's pride was still sore from that encounter, she had to admit that it had ultimately stabilized her standing with the femme and thus the Autobots as a whole.

Like she had thought, new quarters were not found for her; she was still in the brig. She had at least been given a remote control to turn off the shield. But today, that didn't matter very much to her. Today was her first patrol. Terabyte was more nervous than she would ever admit, she hadn't slept much at all... until 0700. She decided she would read a little bit and then go out to prepare for her patrol at 0830; the Autobots wouldn't miss her.

Tension had lightened, but Cliffjumper and the Prime were the only ones that even acknowledged her most of the time. And Ratchet. Ratchet had been unusually kind to her ever since the processor scan.

Terabyte must have dozed off while reading though, because at 0910 her proximity alert woke her up. Jolting up, she looked around and saw... No one. Slowly she shut down the field and peeked outside.

"So, are you gonna go or not?" Terabyte looked down and saw Miko staring up at her impatiently. "Optimus and 'Bee are going to check out a weird signal, and you're s'posed to go with them."

Just then the readings on her chronometer seemed to click into her processor. She was late. Deviation from the rules would ruin everything... Oh no. Terabyte transformed into her Cybertronian alt-mode – she had not taken an Earth form, it was a disgrace to the memory of Cybertron. Cybertronians shouldn't look like the humans' machines.

Through her side mirrors, she saw that Miko had climbed into her seat and was admiring her alt-mode. Making sure the fragile fleshy was safely positioned, she sped off towards the bridge room.

"Wooohoo!" Miko shouted as the wind tugged at her clothing, "You're faster than Arcee! And _way_ cooler looking. Three wheels! Awesome!"

Terabyte couldn't help but smile at the girl's excitement. She'd take a compliment any day, especially at Arcee's expense. Although...

"You better not let Arcee hear that... She hates me enough as is."

As she spoke, she took a corner perhaps more sharply than necessary, her third wheel splaying out to the side to hold her balance. A squeal from her passenger rewarded Terabyte's effort, and she grinned internally. Human or not, she'd always liked younglings; Cybertronian younglings were getting more and more rare any more though.

When they got to the bridge room, she paused just long enough for Miko to get off and to a safe distance, then she transformed as fast as she could. Dipping her head formally to Optimus, Terabyte's vents heaved as she hurried to cool down before speaking.

"Forgive me, my lord, I was ready to go and I just-"

"It's alright, Terabyte. We have detected Decepticon activity in the desert. For your first mission you will accompany Bumblebee and myself to investigate. Ratchet." Optimus interrupted her rushed apology and motioned for the medic to reactivate her weapons and long-range communications in case they were separated.

"Good luck. You'll need it." Ratchet whispered into her audials as he worked.

After Ratchet had unlocked the needed systems, Cliffjumper gave her back her black mini-cannon. Flashing her an encouraging smile, he activated the ground-bridge. Feeling her spark pulse speed up, Terabyte followed Optimus through the portal with Bumblebee to her right.

As soon as she was through, her HUD powered up with a flurry of sensor readings. Her sensors had picked up three Decepticon spark signals, as well as a residual energon reading. One of the signals was weak, like the mech had just come out of stasis. Looking around, she caught a glimpse of Soundwave on the clifftop.

"This does not look good..." Bumblebee said quietly in Cybertronian.

"No Bumblebee, it does not. Remain here, I am going to investigate." The Prime ordered before walking into the canyon, towards two of the life-signs. Bumblebee followed at a distance, carefully keeping himself hidden and watching the Prime closely.

_/Sir, I've sighted Soundwave; with your leave I will find out what he's up to... and stop him if I can./ _Terabyte informed the Prime as she rolled off to the cliff where she'd seen Soundwave. Optimus just sent a small ping of acknowledgement. This was a perfect opportunity to check up on the details of her mission. Hopefully Starscream hadn't altered it too much, getting out now would be... difficult to say the least.

When she reached the cliff base, Terabyte transformed and started the climb up. Thankfully there were plenty of footholds for her, making it an easy hike. By the time she reached the top, she could hear a roar coming from below, followed by the sounds of crashing metal. A battle had just begun.

Not taking time to see who was fighting whom, Terabyte made her way to Soundwave, who was recording the battle with Starscream now at his side.

"Are you getting this Soundwave? We will need official documentation of Optimus Prime's demise... for the record." Starscream said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Commander Starscream." She dipped her helm – respectfully interrupting – and maybe less respectfully, ignoring the Seeker's protest of "That's _Lord _Starscream to you!" and turned to her commander. "Sir, I have successfully infiltrated the Autobots. They do not yet trust me, as you expected, but I have been paroled. The Autobots' Prime informed me of Lord Megatron's demise. I came to confirm this lie and to ask if there have been any changes to my mission of which I should be aware."

Soundwave nodded once, then stepped away from the cliff edge and he looked up at the sky. Terabyte dipped her helm in acknowledgement. Her commander was satisfied with her progress.

"Where have they gone?" Starscream asked angrily, "Soundwave! Why aren't you tracking them?!"

A transmission beep emitted from Soundwave with a slightly exasperated ring. Terabyte couldn't blame him, _no_ one liked having to put up with the Seeker.

"What, what is it?" Starscream asked impatiently, turning to face the stoic mech waving his thin hands dismissively. A weak Decepticon life-signal showed on Soundwave's visor, the exact location not yet pinpointed. "A second Decepticon life-signal?" The Air Commander's voice lowered thoughtfully. "But Skyquake is the only sleeper buried in this area!"

Terabyte's finials pricked forward in interest. Skyquake? He was here? Now? Her spark pulse sped up almost double and her frame practically tingled with excitement. The small femme's EM field flared happily, Skyquake had been woken at last. She could hardly wait to see him again; it had been almost a decavorn since he'd been given the sleeper assignment.

Soundwave turned to Starscream and showed that the Decepticon signal was coming from the location of where the space bridge used to be. Where the Lord Protector had supposedly died.

"The site of our destroyed space bridge..." Starscream took a step toward Soundwave, glaring at him. "You're not telling me that life-signal belongs to _Megatron_?" The mech spluttered, "B-b-b-but he was _microns_ from the detonation point! _No_thing could have survived that blast! Your sensors must be faulty!"

Starscream stormed away in a huff, staring out over the cliff's edge as if searching the clouds for advice. Suddenly he flung his arms out rudely. "Ignore the contact! Delete the coordinates!" He snapped almost desperately.

The spy was hardly paying attention until this point, but Starscream's orders to ignore the fact that Megatron could be alive snapped her back to the conversation. Driven by her duty to her people, Terabyte took one bold step towards the rash Seeker.

"Sir, with _all_ due respect," Her tone was nearly completely void of respect, "That is treason. Lord Megatron must live. He is the only hope our cause has left."

Starscream walked up to her, his wings making him seem much larger than the thin mech really was. He raised one clawed hand menacingly over her, but Terabyte held her ground, hoping that either Soundwave would intervene or that the Seeker would see reason.

Raising her energon blade defensively Terabyte looked the Commander in the optics. She couldn't back down, it would only be seen as weakness. Although... She was standing before the most cowardly mech in the Decepticon forces; he may not have the bearings to attack a femme. As she looked up at the silver claws brandished only a few inches from her face, she could only hope. It would be a shame to incapacitate her commanding officer. Terabyte figured Soundwave would not appreciate that.

After a klick, Starscream stepped back shaking his helm roughly."Gah! What am I saying?" The Seeker was beginning to sound high-pitched and hysterical. "O-of course, this must be - ah -_investigated_. If Lord Megatron is up there, I shall bring him home." Starscream puffed out his chest importantly. "Remain here and monitor the outcome. When Skyquake snuffs Prime's spark,_ I_ must bear witness."

"I must bear witness." Soundwave replayed after the Seeker had flown off. The silent purple mech turned to Terabyte and shook his helm slowly. His chest-plate opened to reveal Laserbeak, who flew out in Starscream's direction. Someone needed to keep an optic on the power-hungry Air Commander.

"Commander Soundwave? What of my mission?" Not sure which method of communication he would use, Terabyte regarded the department head expectantly watching and listening for his answer.

Choosing visual display, a bright red equals sign lit up his visor and flashed a few times before disappearing. Her mission was unchanged. With that, the mech transformed and flew off to a discreet position near the battle to follow his own orders.

Now alone on the cliff, the Decepticon femme stared unseeing into the clouds, her spark and processor buzzing with excitement. Skyquake was back! Oh, she had so many things to tell him! Terabyte's took in a huge vent of air, grinning widely under her mask.

She'd missed him _so _much... But now he was back!

**A.N. Now things start getting exciting! Reviews are greatly enjoyed, encouraged, and loved. Dear readers, we have one action packed chapter coming up! And if you've watched the show; you've got a pretty good idea why. But what will **_**I**_** do? Not even I know yet...*Dramatic suspenseful music plays loudly***


	9. Of Broken Spark

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 9**

**Of Broken Spark**

_She walked slowly to the address that Shadowlight had given her. The little femme had never been one for parties, but she also wanted to have some femme friends. After all, she'd been in Kaon for a while and was going to be there for the foreseeable future. Taking a deep in-vent to steel herself, she rang the doorbell politely._

_Darkshine opened the door for her and the spy gasped at the sight that greeted her. The room was bright and shining. The two jets' quarters were huge and full of expensive furniture and extravagant decorations. The blue, ombre, Cybertanium walls were lined with shiny white light panels and fabulous paintings. One whole side of the living area was glass, providing a rare view of the Kaonian city gleaming in the dark of the night._

"_Not bad, huh?" Darkshine commented airily._

_The two-wheeler nodded slowly still taking in the grand surroundings. "How can you afford this? I have a hard enough time paying for my tiny one-room apartment! And I outrank you!" For the moment, she didn't even notice the other two femmes that the sisters had invited._

"_For starters, there's two of us sharing the bill. Also; warrior class get higher pay. Higher risk and whatnot." The black jet shrugged. "We brought a couple of our other femme friends along. This is Thunderblast and Nightracer."_

_The two femmes in question were reclining comfortably on the fluffy brown sofa. Thunderblast, a petite – considering her alt-mode - boatformer, looked up from polishing her servos to smile at her while Nightracer, a cute carformer much closer to her own age, glanced up and waved shyly. She waved back, grinning behind her mask. _

_Just then Shadowlight walked in from the kitchen area and grinned widely at them, a cube of sweet En' for each of them balanced precariously in her hands. "So we've had our introductions... Let's get this party started!" _

_All of the femmes' processors were fuzzy by 2400. Far too much sweet En' had done that. The sweetened energy most commonly drunk by younglings was by no means addicting, but it sure tasted good... Not to mention spiking one's energy levels. At the moment, the five femmes were laying sprawled out on the floor playing Truth or Dare; their armor sparkling and shining from being freshly polished... several times. _

"_My turn!" She said happily, though her voice was a little harsh from laughing so hard just a little bit earlier at Darkshine, who had just finished doing an imitation of a decapitated robo-chicken for a dare. "Nightracer, truth or dare?"_

"_Truth." The blue sniper answered instantly. Obviously the little car didn't want to risk a dare like 'Shine's._

"_What is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" Her optics glinted with challenge and anticipation. This one was bound to be good..._

"_Oh! Oh..." Nightracer gave her an uneasy look, squirming slightly. "Can I do a dare instead?"_

"_Nope!" The spy grinned evilly, her mask having been lowered since her last turn. Her slight resentment toward Thunderblast for that dare had faded mostly after her peace offering of copper candy. "Don't wimp out on me femme."_

"_Aww... Um... Well there was the time I first got my guns..." She looked away awkwardly. The other four femmes nodded for her to go on, all of them wearing wide grins. Nightracer was the last one to be asked a variation of that question. "'Kay, so I was only in my third youngling frame and I had just been upgraded; so like, I wasn't totally adjusted yet and my coordination was off... A lot... and well, I tried to fire them both at the same time. It sort of didn't go too well."_

"_Ah c'mon! What'd you do?" Was the unanimous response._

_The sniper's engine whined but she went on bravely. "I- I blew my own feet off – and I mean totally __**off – **__after shooting my mentor in the face. I couldn't walk for two-and-a-half orns!"_

_"From blowing your feet off or from shooting your mentor in the face?" Darkshine asked morbidly._

"_You blew your feet off." The two-wheeler repeated dryly. "You __**blew**__ your feet __**off? **__How in the world did you manage that?!"_

_Peals of hysterical laughter echoed through half the deck. The friendships made that evening were well worth the next rotation's reprimands for tardiness. _

He flew towards her, rolling masterfully through the clouds. The fluffy clouds split in his wake and trailed beautifully off his rust-red wingtips, the sunlight reflecting off his cockpit. Terabyte watched Skyquake's flight enraptured. At that moment, the jet was the most wonderful thing she'd ever seen.

Time seemed to slow down as Terabyte watched Skyquake descend towards her. As she watched him, it struck her that the mech was trying to talk to her. Shaking her helm gently, she looked up at him, a myriad of memories flooding her mind.

"Tera'?" Skyquake's low, gravelly voice washed over her audios like sweetest music. The femme was so pleased to see him again that she forgot to lower her battle mask. Likewise her Energon blade remained fully charged and ready.

"Skyquake!" All other words lost, Terabyte ran to her long departed friend. Optic fluid rolled down her face and pooled on the edge of her mask, so great was her joy. The little two-wheeler jumped up to give the towering mech a welcoming hug.

She never saw it coming, or if she had, her processor had been unable to comprehend it at the time.

Half-way to him, Skyquake raised his arm and back-handed Terabyte out of the air. The moment his hand connected with her abdomen, Terabyte's ecstasy was crushed just as quickly as the steel gray proto-plating. He wasn't supposed to have reacted like that. It didn't even occur to the spy that her dagger and war mask might have given the wrong impression.

Slumped up against a boulder several car-lengths away, Terabyte sat stunned. Optics shuttered and opened, once, twice, three times. Her processors stuttered, the effort of simply trying to figure out why he'd done that pressing her mind to the brink of glitching. Emotionally and physically injured by Skyquake's assault, Terabyte gazed up at the angry mech, now approaching her with his machine gun levelled on her spark, with devastated optics.

For seven vorns she'd imagined how their reunion would be, but never – not even in her worst nightmares – did Terabyte consider such a response from her comrade. Shock, hurt and distress threatened to overwhelm her.

"You would attack me? I would have thought you were wiser than this Terabyte." Skyquake spat her name as if it were the worst of insults. "How long have you been a traitor, femme? How could you turn on our cause after so long? After everything we've done for the Decepticons, you would turn on me _now_?"

Terabyte's engine whined long as she backed up further against the boulder. Tears filled her optics and she let out a pained gasp. She knew him too well; she could never do anything to hurt him – even if she wanted to – and she would not survive should Skyquake attack.

"Sky! Please, hear me out!" The Prussian blue femme's voice broke as she stifled a sob. Terabyte wasn't sure if it was from the pain caused by her badly dented armor that was now beginning to leak life-En, or from the pain in her spark. Skyquake was her best friend, this _shouldn't_ have been happening. "I'm not reall-"

"Lies from the mouth of a traitor. Terabyte..." Skyquake's jaws clenched and his voice was low. He'd made a decision and his mind would not be changed; that's what that tone was. "Tera', I don't want to harm you, but I will if I must. Today I will leave you. Should we meet again, I cannot be so lenient. Please," His voice went soft, breaking slightly, "Do not – I hope we shall never have to meet again."

With that final warning, Skyquake transformed and flew back to the battle he had started with the Prime. For a whole breem, Terabyte didn't move. She merely stared at where the jet had been standing, her mind numb and her spark feeling as if it had just been torn apart. No. This shouldn't have happened... It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Suddenly fueled by a desperate determination, Terabyte shook herself from her devastated thoughts and stood slowly, ignoring the sharp sting in her frame as the damaged plating pressed against her protoform. Her mind made up, the sturdy little femme took steady, certain strides towards the battlefield.

'_Who cares if he kills me afterwards? I must help him. He needs help or the Prime will offline him for sure. Skyquake is a great fighter, but Technahar proved that the Prime will still win. If I help, Sky may still have a chance...'_

She arrived over the raging battle just in time to see Bumblebee reach the top of the cliff. Skyquake was nearing the perfect place for the yellow scout to ambush him. Her mission and her own safety discarded as unimportant, Terabyte put on a burst of speed and jumped on Bumblebee with her Energon dagger still drawn.

"Don't. You. Dare!" She ground out from where she had grabbed hold of his doorwing. Knowing how sensitive a Praxian's doorwings were, Terabyte put her full weight on it. "Leave Skyquake alone! Don't you have any honor? Two to one is hardly even odds, Autobot! Or are you scared your precious Prime can't fight his own battles?" She taunted as she wrenched on the scout's wing.

Bumblebee growled at the insult, but made no response. He tried to shake her off but her grip was too strong. Terabyte raised her dagger to impale his other doorwing. Unfortunately she had underestimated the scout and before she could inflict further damage to him, he had punched her in the face; leaving her on the ground.

"_Sorry." _Bumblebee added an apologetic whirr to his toneless Cybertronian.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Terabyte screamed in desperation.

The scout ignored her and leapt off the edge, landing on Skyquake's back. The two-wheeler got back to her pedes and followed their flight as best she could, anxiously watching the two warriors and waiting to see what Bumblebee would do.

Terabyte stared in horror as the yellow Autobot plunged his fist into the side of Skyquake's jet-mode. Bumblebee tore his hand from the green frame, bringing with it a sparking handful of his internals. The hole that was left was smoking and Skyquake began losing altitude.

"NO! No... Skyquake!" The Prussian blue femme cried, her inability to help tearing at her very being. When Bumblebee thrust his other fist into Skyquake, yet again tearing out a fistful of circuitry - this time sending a web of cracks down his cockpit as well - Terabyte staggered backwards where she stood as if the injury was to herself rather than the jet. Now bearing two smoking holes in his frame, Skyquake plummeted to the earth. Shortly before the soldier crash-landed, Bumblebee leapt off of him and onto Fowler's jet, from which Skyquake had gotten his new Earth alt-mode.

The army green mech transformed moments before he hit the ground. Skyquake slid across the canyon floor, leaving a slightly charred trench, damp with his own life-En, in his wake.

She shook herself from her stupor, running recklessly down the cliff-side; jumping from one ledge to the next. Terabyte ignored the spikes of pain that ran through her at every landing. All that mattered to her now was reaching Skyquake.

Skyquake lay motionless on the ground. He felt like he'd just fallen off the tallest spire in Kaon. Which he might have actually done before… But his processor was so blurry; he could hardly remember anything. He wasn't sure why he was on the ground or who had put him there. He just knew that that's where he was.

Slowly he opened his optics. The sunset above him was so pretty… So pretty… Rolling his helm to the side to see more of his surroundings, Skyquake saw a femme about half his height – if she was half his height how tall was he? If he didn't know how tall he was, how did he know she was half that? The confused thoughts made his helm ache – She was prettier than the sunset, Skyquake decided finally.

The femme was Prussian blue and black with steel gray proto-plating on her thighs, abdomen, arms and neck. A small gap in her armor ran down her sides and from that gap came the faint yellow glow of her bio-lights. She had a mini cannon with gold and blue ornamental attachments on it latched to her forearm. The femme's joints were gold and sparkled in the light of the setting sun, as did the black windscreen of her alt-mode which wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

What was a scarf? Skyquake frowned minutely. His processor kept supplying him with analogies, comparisons and words that he couldn't remember. And… why did he hurt so much? He barely noticed the thin plume of smoke rising from his chassis. His helm was wet and pounding painfully with every spark pulse.

By this time, the femme was bent over him, her face just a foot or two from his. The beautiful two-wheeler – two-wheeler? She had three wheels! Skyquake's fuzzy logic centers argued. Again he chose not to dwell on it too much – was crying. Why was she crying? Did he know her? Was he dying? He didn't want to die.

The femme lowered her battle mask and smiled at him weakly. Her silvery face was angular and elfish – though he wasn't sure what an elf was. This was starting to get annoying. He ought to know these things – marked only with a thin jagged scar that cut across her cheek. It started just below her yellow optic and ended by her lips. She had dainty, seemingly perfect lip-plates… Skyquake belatedly realized they were moving and turned on his audials. The action took more energy than he'd thought it would and his optics powered down.

The last thing he saw was a warning symbol on his HUD. It said, 'Warning: Energon levels critical. Inducing stasis lock in 10, 9…'

"Skyquake! It's going to be all right. I'll save you, I promise!" A tiny smile touched Skyquake's face. Her voice was so harmonious, even as worried and grieved as it was. He just wished he knew why she was so sad… He wanted to make her ha–

His audials crackled with static before shutting down. All at once Skyquake felt his systems crash.

'_I don't want to die…' _Skyquake thought in one last astro-second of panicked consciousness. _'She will save me. She promised! Please help me, I don't want to die.' _

"NO!" Terabyte's wail echoed through the canyon as Skyquake's optic closed and his frame relaxed under her. She held his face gently in her hands, "Sky! No!"

**A.N. Oh boy… Am I evil or what? I did say this chapter would be massive. Whatever will I do next? Anything can happen at this point.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers. Only my OC's. Speaking of which, Thunderblast and Nightracer are canon, they are just much younger in my timeline. Check them out on the tfwiki for an idea of what they look like. Also, to see Terabyte's alt-mode : . : go to that site. It's pretty awesome, and we all know a picture is worth a thousand words. :)**

**Sorry this one's a little late... I posted chapter 8 early and accidentally threw off my whole writing schedule. Also be warned... Chapter 10 may also be late. It keeps arguing with me... This story really has a life of its own.**

**Review and comment, dear readers!**


	10. Loss and Hope

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 10**

**Loss and Hope **

**A.N. Ok. Speech in bold from now on is Cybertronian. Just to clear things up a bit. Except in flashbacks: Those are always Cybertronian – you know, because they're on Cybertron – so I really didn't think it was necessary there. In the past, unless she was talking to a human directly, Terabyte was speaking Cybertronian. 'Bee speaks Cybertronian, but at sparkling level and sort of tonelessly because of the damage to his vocals. (which is why he beeps and whirrs a lot) Everyone else speaks English as a courtesy to the humans. That will be addressed a little later on.**

_Skyquake was away on a mission. He would be away for at least an orn, so she didn't have her usual training sessions. She didn't want to spend the whole time he was gone by herself, so when Thunderblast asked her to a sparring match that evening, she had no objections._

_The little femme still couldn't believe she'd lowered her mask at the party a quartex ago and it had made her even stricter about keeping it up. The things one does when they've had too much sweets. Since it was also Thunderblast's fault that she'd done it in the first place, the spy looked forward to a chance to humiliate the boat._

_As soon as both femmes were in the training area, they bowed and began the match. After a few breems of neither one getting in a substantial hit, it became clear that their skills were nearly equal. She also noticed that Thunderblast had no qualms with fighting dirty; which turned out to be a slight advantage for the boat. Her own smaller size however, gave the two-wheeler an equal advantage._

"_So, what have you been up to lately Terabyte?" Thunderblast asked, blocking one of her strikes and throwing in a punch which was easily dodged._

"_Oh, fine. I have quite a bit more free time than normal just now; I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. That's part of why I came here." She continued fighting gracefully, not allowing her opponent's banter to distract her. "How about you? Anything interesting going on?"_

"_You know, this and that. I've been keeping an optic on Knockout. He's-" _

_Rolling her golden optics, the Prussian blue femme tuned out the next breem of Thunderblast's talking. The purple and gold femme was obsessed with mechs. She never paid much attention to the boat, nor did she particularly like her other than as a sparring opponent. As for herself, she couldn't care less about mechs. _

"_Honestly, Thunder. He may have a shiny paint job, but he's a vain and arrogant fool! Surely even you can see that." Taking advantage of Thunderblast's momentary lapse in concentration, the spy got in a blow that knocked the boat to the floor. She jumped on top of her downed opponent and wrapped her hand around a vital fuel line, pressing lightly. "Besides, you should pay more attention to the fight or you'll be seeing the medic shortly."_

_When the purple femme appeared to actually be considering the option, the two-wheeler pulled Thunderblast up; she shook her helm disgustedly, muttering, "You're going to make me purge."_

"_Alright, I'll stay more focused." Thunderblast grinned as she initiated the next round. "How's it going with you and Skyquake then?"_

"_Thunder, sometimes I wonder if you've even got a processor in that thick helm of yours. He's a good friend and he's taught me to fight. That's all." She feinted and over-balanced the boat-femme, smashing her fist into Thunderblast's helm. "And that's three to one in my favor."_

"_He's taught you a little too well, if you ask me." Thunderblast grumbled as she got back up, rubbing the new dent in her helm. _

"_Why don't we call it a night? I mean, it'd be a shame if you weren't able to get fixed up before your next shift." The spy grinned, her optics twinkling. She gestured to the various dents and scuffs on the femme's purple and gold armor. "After all, what would people think if they saw you in that state? Beaten by a femme half your size too. An awful shame."_

_As she'd expected, Thunderblast took the bait and charged again. Unfortunately for her, she was going too fast to stop by the time she noticed the Prussian blue pede raise up in her path. Thunderblast tripped over her pede and fell with a loud crash to the floor._

"_Like I said, I'm going to call it a night. See you in the morning, Thunder!" She exited the training area in triumph, making a mental note to thank Skyquake when he got back. _

**Previously on Duty and Deceit…**

"**NO!" Terabyte's wail echoed through the canyon as Skyquake's optics closed and his frame relaxed under her. She held his face gently in her hands, "Sky! No!"**

**All at once Skyquake felt his systems crash. **_**'I don't want to die…' **_**Skyquake thought in one last astro-second of panicked consciousness. **_**'She will save me. She promised! Please help me, I don't want to die.' **_

"**No… no, no, no, no! You can't die!"** Terabyte whispered. Pulling out her emergency med-kit, the femme quickly assessed the damage. It was too were two gaping holes, the larger in his torso and the smaller in his helm. She couldn't fix _this_! **"I can't fix this… Shadowlight! Help me, please! I have to fix him. I promised."** Vainly she called for her offlined former friend.

She needed a medic.

Even though she knew she couldn't fix Skyquake, Terabyte's hands flew over his chassis repairing the few things she knew how to; hoping that she could stop the leaking enough to keep him alive. All the while, pink optic fluid rolled down her face.

Terabyte jerked away instinctually from someone's hand. Looking to her shoulder, she vaguely recognized the hand as belonging to the Prime himself.

"**Get away! Haven't you done enough?"** Terabyte screamed, staring at the life-En on her hands. **"He's going to die and it's your fault! Are you happy now? All for the Autobot cause, right? I don't know how **_**anyone**_** could think joining your life-En-thirsty army could be better for them! I should never have gone to your side!"**

"Terabyte…" His voice was filled with pain and sorrow. Good. The Autobots deserved all the pain their warped sense of honor could throw at them. "Step away from Skyquake. We will take him back to base. Ratchet may be able to save him. But you have to trust me and let me take him back."

She snorted rudely. **"The only place you want to take him is the Well. And then you'd probably call it 'mercy'."**

"You have my word as a Prime, Terabyte. I will not allow any more harm to come to him."

The distraught spy turned her gaze down to the growing pool of life-En around her black diamond-shaped knee-plates. Biting her lip, Terabyte made up her mind. Skyquake was dying. Desperate times called for desperate measures, or so it was said.

Terabyte stood up slowly and looked up at the Prime. She only just reached mid-riff on the huge mech. The same height as Skyquake, Megatron… It was a good height, she thought blearily. Her processor felt numb, as if she had reached some sort of stress cap and the result was that her logic centers had simply turned off.

"**If you are lying, know this: I will not rest until he is avenged."** With that dire threat, the femme stepped aside.

Optimus nodded solemnly and quickly knelt to pick up Skyquake, taking care not to jostle the unconscious mech. The ground bridge opened and the three of them rushed through it to the Autobot base.

"What on Cybertron happened out there?!" Ratchet shouted as Optimus laid the gravely wounded Decepticon on the surgical berth. Not waiting for an answer, the medic continued his rant. "Optimus, with all due respect, you're severely glitched if you think I'm going to _fix_ this mech! I will _not_ repair this Decepticon murderer."

"Ratchet…" The Prime rumbled dangerously, laying one flat hand on the medic's shoulder. "We are Autobots, we serve and protect all life; regardless of-"

"No!" Ratchet pulled away harshly and ripped a wrench from subspace, flailing it around as he spoke. Terabyte's engine growled. Skyquake must be saved at all costs; he didn't have time for the medic's tantrum. "I don't care! I will not willingly save the life of the mech who killed our friend!"

"**Which one?"**Terabyte snarled, **"This is war: Mechs kill, mechs die. Would you rather add **_**another**_** spark to the list?"** She released her dagger and, dodging the swinging wrench, shoved it up against the medic's neck, pressing the medic into the wall.

"**So help me, if you don't fix him… I will not hesitate to offline you." **The femme hissed, adding more pressure to the blade. She hadn't drawn life-En… yet.

"Terabyte, this is not our way either. Stand down, now. Ratchet, Commander Prowl was a close friend to me as well; his death is not unfelt. It weighs heavy on my spark, even after so long." The Autobot leader leveled a reproving look on the medic and the spy in turn.

Both mechs wilted noticeably. Terabyte stepped back, still simmering, but she retracted her blade as well – jaw-hinges creaking under the strain from clenching them so tightly.

"That does not condone deliberately allowing this mech to die; no matter what atrocities he has committed in the past, he deserves a second chance. We gave Prowl a second chance. Would you deny another that same chance?" The Prime glared at Ratchet; it was not up for discussion. "You will repair him as if he were one of our own. Understood?"

"Even _he_ would not hesitate to offline every one of us?" The medic asked bitterly, but it was obvious that he had been subdued.

Terabyte hovered nearby, watching as the medic immediately began working on Skyquake. The red and white medic repaired the soldier without any further questioning. That didn't mean that Ratchet was happy with it – his shouting and throwing various medical tools across the room, adding several more dents to the walls, floors, and Terabyte's armor, proved as much.

Or was he just always like that? It was difficult to tell.

"Terabyte!" Ratchet smacked her shoulder wheel with the wrench he'd just been using, his other hand still deep in Skyquake's chassis. "Focus! Either pay attention and be useful or get out. Give me a laser scalpel."

"**Yes sir."** The femme hurried to obey, knowing fully that Skyquake's life depended on her cooperation.

The damage was so severe... She didn't understand even half of the things Ratchet was doing. She could tell however, that the scout had torn open one of Skyquake's fuel tanks and ripped out part of his processor. Very few mechs could survive that much damage to the helm. Those who did were never the same again...

Her anger at the medic's reluctance had faded relatively quickly, being replaced instantly with worry for her friend. The life-En slowly oozing down her pedes from the wounds in her abdomen went unnoticed by both mech and femme as they worked.

Now holding a clump of wires Ratchet had given her, Terabyte looked at up at him fearfully, her mask back up. **"He's not going to make it is he?" **She already was certain of the answer.

The idea of Skyquake dying made her feel strangely dead inside. Hollow. As if her spark had gone to the Well and somehow left her behind, no more than an empty husk with no more hope of joy than a machine.

"Shut up and turn up the Energon output on that drip. I don't give up on a patient; you got that? Never. Unlike the medics you know." Ratchet growled as he finished sealing the sliced fuel lines and began cleaning up the dried life-En so that he could patch the ruptured fuel tank properly.

**"If he lives, will he even still be the same mech? Or will he be a different mech with Skyquake's body?"**

Terabyte almost thought that would be worse than losing him. No, she'd rather he died than have to live seeing some shredded wisp of the mech she had known. If she couldn't keep Skyquake, she didn't want a fake running around as a constant reminder of her loss. It would be a violation of her friend's honor.

A voice in the back of her mind wondered if she had pushed the angry mech too far. After all, he had already made it clear that he'd rather see Skyquake offline anyway.

"I DON'T KNOW!" The medic roared at her. "Alright? I'm not Primus. I can't work miracles; I can only do my job and hope for the best. You should be glad I'm trying at all. Do you know how many of ours have died on my watch because of _this_ mech?"

"**I lost my entire **_**city**_** because of your kind. I should think I understand loss."** Terabyte returned resentfully.

Ratchet turned back to the repairs. The damage to Skyquake's fuel tank was easily fixed in comparison; the main problem had been the rapid loss of Energon. Now the question was not whether or not he would live, but rather whether or not he would ever come out of stasis.

"Go get me an Alpha model processor drive. Replacement parts are in cargo bay five. And be quick about it."

"**Alpha drive. Bay five. Got it."** The femme answered tersely before running off to retrieve the part.

When Terabyte reached the cargo bay she groaned. The place was a disaster, various parts lay unlabeled and unorganized on the floor and shelves alike. Obviously, Ratchet wasn't in charge of this bay; the medic was meticulous about medical supplies being kept tidy. How was she supposed to find an Alpha drive in this wreck when she didn't even know what it looked like?

By some unimaginable stroke of luck, the femme noticed one shelf at the very back of the room that hadn't been trifled with. It would make sense to look there first; processor damage was rare and living long enough for spare parts to be needed was even rarer. Making her way through the chaos as quickly as she could, Terabyte scanned the shelf thoroughly twice before she located the correct one.

Terabyte shuddered as she picked up the very last Alpha drive in stock. If there hadn't been one… She hurriedly cut off that line of thought.

After she gave Ratchet the part, he ordered her out of the med-bay.

"**I'm not leaving."** She answered firmly.

"Yes you are. Get out. This is complicated work and I don't need any distractions." He answered just as firmly, not even looking up at her from where he was prepping the tools for the procedure.

**"I'm not leaving!" **Terabyte insisted. **"I won't be a distraction, I promise."**

"If you could turn invisible you would still be a distraction. Besides, this is going to take at least a joor and you have injuries of your own to attend. Cliffjumper!"

Terabyte glared at the red mech as he burst into the med-bay.

"Doc? You called?" Even then, the mech was grinning cheekily at them.

"Don't call me Doc. Get Terabyte out of here." Ratchet still didn't look up from his work. He was busy slicing into Skyquake's helm so that there was enough room for him to begin the surgical procedure.

"Sure thing, Doc." Flashing the medic another of his annoying grins, Cliffjumper put a hand on her shoulder wheel and steered the femme to the exit.

Terabyte allowed herself to be led away, both because she knew there was nothing she could do to help and because her own injuries were beginning to really hurt. The extra rush of energy that had come with her fear was now gone, leaving her feeling drained. Though that may have been from how much she was leaking. It was hard to tell.

"-ing your life was perhaps not the best of strategies, Bumblebee, but you performed admirably today." Optimus Prime was telling the scout in the main room. Terabyte shuddered; a swarm of thoughts flooding her stressed and weary processors.

**"It was nothing, really."** Bumblebee clicked modestly. Nothing. The swarming thoughts cleared, leaving only one thing behind. Rage. Terabyte fumed where she stood unnoticed by the victorious Autobots.

"Aww, 'Bee! You're too modest. You were probably awesome out there!" Raf said admiringly from where the yellow and black mech had placed him on his shoulder. How did the fleshy understand Cybertronian anyway?

"Raf's totally right! What happened out there anyway? Were there more Decepticons? I bet you and Optimus pounded them to scrap!" The thought of scrapped Decepticons seemed to please the young, excitable human girl. Already the impressionable human sparklings were being influenced by the Autobots' lies.

Her lip-plates curled upwards in disgust. She couldn't take this any longer. Forcing herself to appear calm, the dark-colored femme took the few steps to where Miko was standing and knelt down to one knee so that she was closer to optic-level with the human. The fleshies were all so small, even compared to her.

"Do you really want to know what happened out there Miko?" Terabyte cast a glance at the Prime to see if he was going to stop her. She was after all still a prisoner of war. He didn't seem to be making any moves against her though, so she looked back at Miko.

"Well, duh. Would I have asked if I didn't?" She replied rolling her eyes. The serious tone that tinged the air didn't seem to have been noticed by the girl.

"Good point." Terabyte conceded, softening her tone and reminding herself that she was speaking to a child. "The Decepticons were waking one of their own. He had been in stasis for v- a really, really long time. While I was trying to find out what Soundwave was doing on the cliff-top, Bumblebee and the Prime engaged this newly woken Decepticon. I was not there for the entire battle, but I did see that both Autobots were attacking him. Bumblebee tore out a large portion of the Decepticon's proces- brain. He would have died."

Terabyte finished soberly. It had been harder to use only human terms than she'd thought it would be.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Miko asked.

"No. It isn't." She stood up to glare accusingly at the other Autobots. **"When is it ever good to kill someone, anyone, in that way? An unequal fight."** Terabyte snorted. **"You might as well have been ganged up on him! Since when is that good, or admirable?"**

After looking deep into each of their blue optics, Terabyte laughed, humorless. **"I was sparked a neutral and raised as one. But if this is how both factions raise their young... Into sparkless killers. No wonder this war never ends."**

With that statement hanging in the air, the dark femme went and sat down next to the med-bay door. She figured the damage to her chassis ought to be fixed, but Terabyte couldn't bring herself to do it. Her thoughts were too scattered to do it properly anyway.

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching a few breems later, Terabyte looked up from where she had been staring at a blank point on the wall to her right. The green one, Bulky or something like that...Bulkhead. He was shuffling his pedes awkwardly.

Levelling the mech with a flat look, the two-wheeler spoke. Her tone was respectful, yet as flat as her gaze. She stood to attention, wincing as her armor creaked loudly in protest to the action.** "Yes?"**

"Uhh... Prime wants you to, uh," More awkward shuffling, before the mech seemed to get his bearings. "Optimus wants a full detailed report on the mission. It's due tomorrow."

Terabyte glanced at the empty datapad she'd just been given. A full report of all the legitimate sounding slag she could come up with to cover for her meeting with Soundwave. Should be easy enough. She'd also need to write up an official report for her commander. She frowned minutely as she noticed the life-En smears her servos had left on the datapad's surface.

Falling back on Decepticon military formalities, she bowed her helm deferentially.** "Yes sir. I will have it prepared by the end of the rotation. To whom shall I deliver it, sir?"**

"Um, to Optimus." She nodded with another quiet **'yes sir'**. Terabyte was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't be so strictly formal though, it seemed to be bothering the Autobot. "Do- do you want some help with your repairs?"

Unable to stop herself, the femme tossed a pointed look towards the mech's huge, clumsy looking servos. She gave a nervous little chuckle. **"Heh... Thank you sir, but I believe I'll be able to manage on my own."**

He followed the femme's golden gaze slowly and then sighed. "Yeah. That's okay, just, uh, thought I'd make the offer. Um... I'll just, uh, go now."

**"The offer is much appreciated, sir. Good cycle."** Terabyte said quietly. A small smile crept to her face-plates as moments later Ratchet's voice echoed through the base.

"Bulkhead! _I needed that!" _

**A.N. And there we are! Sorry this is late. I have been chaotically busy and I'm not sure if it will let up any time soon. My posts will probably continue to be late, so please bear with me.**

**Please tell me what you think about Bulkhead from that little scene? I want to be sure l have him properly portrayed. Character portrayal is very important to me.**


	11. Undesirable Arrangements

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 11**

**Undesirable Arrangements**

_"We're surrounded!" She shouted, leaping to another boulder and feeling the sting of shrapnel on her dorsal plating as her previous cover was blasted to pieces. /Commander Bludgeon, sir! The mission is compromised! I repeat, the mission is compromised. Requesting immediate reinforcements!/_

_Officially her mentor, Makeshift, was in charge of the reconnaissance mission. Unofficially, this mission was testing her own leadership skills on the battlefield._

_The small femme leaned her dark frame against the rock, standing up when the barrage of weapons-fire lulled. She fired off a round of her own cannon blasts, downing a mech that was foolish enough to step into her sights. Hearing a communications ping, the spy ducked back down._

_/How many of your team is left?/ Commander Bludgeon's cold voice played in her mind as she hurriedly read his message on her HUD. _

_/There's only five of us left, sir. Makeshift, myself, Barricade, and the symbiotes, Rumble and Ravage. The others are offline. We are under heavy fire sir, we need backup!/ _

_She stood up to blast a few more of the Autobot ambush, but her aim was thrown off by a hit to her shoulder. The wound had punctured her tire; her alt-mode would be practically useless. Grinding her jaw against the pain, the Prussian blue femme took cover again, watching as enemy fire ricocheted off the sides of her boulder._

_"Specialist! Where is that backup?" Makeshift roared over the sounds of battle. The little femme cringed slightly at a feral scream from Ravage. _

_"I'm working on it! The Commander is responding too slowly! I'll keep trying." She went back to the comm., still firing heavily on the enemy troops. /Commander Bludgeon, what's the ETA for reinforcements?/_

_/Your team has served the cause well, Terabyte. However we cannot spare any troops for your rescue. Know that your sacrifice is for a noble cause. Bludgeon over and out./ Her optics widened as she read the message. They'd been left for scrap._

_"Slag." She turned to her mentor. "Makeshift! We're on our own. Reinforcements are __**not**__ coming. What do we do, sir?"_

_"This is your mission, Terabyte. Your call. Remember rule number one." A nearby enemy sniper howled, falling from his perch above them._

_"Never let your troops see your indecision." The femme whispered. Louder she gave her orders out loud and through comm.-line. "Recon Squad Delta, regroup at my coordinates and prepare to fall back. Bludgeon's left us for dead."_

_"What're __**you**__ giving orders for, kid? I thought Makeshift was in charge." Barricade sneered._

_"Lieutenant Colonel Makeshift has placed me in command. You-" She cut off her angry retort when her mentor interrupted, finishing her sentence in his own way._

_"-will follow her orders as you would my own, or we'll have to have words later. Understood?" He paused to toss the ex-Enforcer a menacing grin. "Good."_

_Chaos ensued when the Autobots' lead tactician, Prowl, was sighted. She wasn't sure why their small reconnaissance mission was so important to the Autobots. Why would they have sent one of their best mechs to take care of them? They must be close to something big. Soundwave will want to know about this. They'd found it by a fluke, but the information would be very useful._

_The whole team was made up mostly of older mechs now; the younger ones had gone down a while ago. Of course that meant that they didn't think she was a capable enough leader to cope with the bigger baddies. So instead they went solo, every mech for himself; which just left her and Makeshift._

_That didn't last long, as her mentor - wearing an Autobot form - decided to try and rally the other three before they got themselves offlined. _

_She was still firing on the Autobot forces, her aim true as ever - after all, when a femme has target practice with a sniper who has near-legendary skills, she was bound to have learned something. It wasn't until too late that she noticed the band of Autobots that had snuck up behind her._

_Hearing the footsteps, the spy spun around to meet them only for the Autobots she had been firing on previously to have a clear shot at her back. The heat from their blasters licked at the dorsal plating before the blast actually hit. _

_Time seemed to slow down and she could feel her armor tearing away from her frame. She smelled the sharp scent of burnt wires and exposed life-En fill the air. The pain set in shortly after and she screamed in agony, falling to her hands and knees. _

_A very small portion of her processor that hadn't been overwhelmed by the fiery pain noted the sound of a jet engine rapidly approaching._

True to her word, Terabyte started working on her report as soon as she'd finished her repairs enough to stay operational. She was terribly tired though... It had been a stressful rotation to say the least. The small noises of Ratchet's working lulled her into a fog and the temptation to just slip into recharge was nearly overpowering.

As the femme listened to the muffled whirr of the welding torch, the quiet griping of the medic as he worked, distant voices of the other mechs... The datapad slid out of her thin, silvery servos, landing in her lap with a light clink. Golden optics dimmed to gray and the black and Prussian blue helm fell gently to her shoulder.

_Bink..._

**"Huhmm? Go 'way..."** She mumbled, still in recharge.

_Bink. Bink. __**Bink. **_

_'Who-?' _Terabyte accessed the communications ping and read through the details blearily. _'Soundwave... Encrypted message on emergency line... -! Soundwave! ... I wonder how long he's been trying to...'_

The comm. channel was secure. There was no way that the Autobots would be able to intercept it. Especially since Team Prime had no hacker on Earth at the moment. Yet another thing tipping the scales of this war in the Decepticons' favor.

_**Bink. BINK.**_

_/Yes sir? My apologies, sir./ _Terabyte sent quickly. It was never a good thing to make the communications head wait. Although, she'd pretty much already shot that. Who knew how long her boss had been trying to contact her while she was asleep.

_/Skyquake: terminated?/ _Commander Soundwave's message flashed on her HUD. His glyphs had a slightly annoyed slant. Perhaps it was a good thing that they were communicating through the comm.. Terabyte could almost feel the waves of angry frustration that were no doubt rolling off of the empathic mech.

_/Negative. He is... alive. Severe processor damage. Mental stability uncertain at present. He has not yet awoken. The medic is completing repairs currently. The Autobots' alterior motives for his repairing are unknown./ _

_/Maintain cover. Do not tell him./ _He sent crisply.

Soundwave cut the link before she could reply. Don't tell Skyquake. But why? What harm could telling him do? If anything, harm would come of not telling him. Maybe it was just as a precaution until things settled in a bit...

How could she _not _tell him? He was the closest friend she'd ever had! She couldn't just start lying to the mech; that would be wrong. Besides, Skyquake could tell when she was lying; he'd figured that out vorns ago. Simply not mentioning it was just as bad... But orders were orders. In the end, Terabyte knew Skyquake would understand. Or at least she convinced herself that he would.

The gentle swoosh of the med-bay door shook her from her thoughts. Ratchet walked out, running one hand over his face-plates with an exhausted sigh.

"**How is he?"** Terabyte asked, expression and tone carefully blank – in theory.

"Resting. I will bring him from stasis next orn if he hasn't woke up by then**."** Ratchet said, sounding like he was quoting a report.

Terabyte realized that he must have finished with the procedure while she was asleep and had been working on other things. How long had she been in recharge? She didn't even remember powering down in the first place. The mini-bot stood up slowly, wincing a little and checking her chronometer. Rotation's almost over. She could still have that report for the Prime finished if she hurried.

Not noticing that the medic had left and brought back a medical scanner, the femme made to leave. A red hand grabbed her forearm roughly.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

**"To my cell; the Prime asked that I have a report ready by end this rotation."** She explained, trying to wrench free of the medic's grasp. His grip was unrelenting.

"Well Prime can wait, because I'm going to make sure _none _of my patients are left uncared for." Ratchet snapped, dragging her back into his medical domain. Terabyte couldn't help but shudder lightly at the medic's harsh tone.

He firmly pushed her onto one of the empty berths. "And when I'm finished, you're going to be moving into some quarters. The brig will be needed."

Deciding that it was best that she not fight the medic – doing so would be pointless and only serve as a hindrance to her mission – Terabyte worked on her report while the mech ran multiple different scans on her as well as completing her repairs more to his satisfaction. Both Cybertronians finished at approximately the same time.

Terabyte stood up, admittedly feeling much better, keeping her helm tilted respectfully downward. She would simply wait for the medic to act first; by rank, that was all she really could do. Not to mention the medic's sour mood and love of thwacking mechs with various medical utensils.

"What are you waiting for? Get out. I have work to do." Ratchet grumbled as he set about putting away his tools. He was obviously still not too happy about having to repair Skyquake.

**"Yes sir."** The femme answered, a bit puzzled. These Autobots at least didn't seem to hold protocol in very high regard. More accurately; they didn't seem to _have _protocols.

She remembered they had followed very strict regulations back on Cybertron... Perhaps the death of the former SIC had something to do with it. Most mechs had been scared of Prowl, with good reason too. The war had really started to look up for the Decepticons when he was terminated; the tactician had practically been the backbone of Autobot law.

Discarding that thought line for the time being, Terabyte entered the main room and looked around for the Autobot leader. He wasn't there.

"So the Doc got you fixed up? Feeling better?" Cliffjumper asked with a fairly chipper tone.

**"Yeah." **The femme answered shortly. The three humans glanced up at her with curious expressions. **"Do you know where I might find the Prime?"**

A lowly growling engine drew her attention to the two Autobots on the couch. "Optimus is in his office." Raf answered. Bumblebee's optics narrowed and his tone was dangerously flat. Or maybe that's just how it was without the whirring and beeping. **"You'll speak **_**English**_** when humans are present, 'Con."**

She frowned, **"English?"** Oh. She had still been speaking Cybertronian. Well she was Cybertronian, who were they to tell her she couldn't use her own language? **"What's wrong with Cybertronian? I speak English when I'm talking to the humans and I speak our language otherwise."**

**"While on Earth you **_**will **_**speak English… at all times. Not just when talking directly to them**.**"** Bumblebee growled.

Miko glanced over at Raf from where she was sitting. "What are they saying?" She whispered loudly enough for the mechs' sharp audials to pick up.

"Um… I think she doesn't want to speak English unless she's talking to us, and Bee's insisting she does. I think." Raf whispered back to her.

"Well, you know, it is kinda rude…" Miko pointed out, supporting her Autobot friends.

**"Was killing our planet not enough for you?" **She shouted at the Autobots accusingly, ignoring the human sparklings**. "Must you destroy our culture as well?"**

In the background, Terabyte could hear the youngest still translating as best he could. He at least got the basic idea of what she was saying.

"Tera'... that is not the point. It is polite to the inhabitants of the planet we are disturbing with our war." Cliffjumper said, dead serious now. "To be honest, I'm surprised Optimus didn't-"

**"Don't you dare call me that!"** Terabyte shrieked, then stopped and took a deep intake to cool her overheating systems. She couldn't allow her past to interfere with her mission. Her shoulders slumped as she forced herself into submission. "I will speak the fleshies' language."

"Hey! We're not-" Miko protested loudly before being interrupted.

"Miko!" Jack hissed, prodding her with his elbow sharply.

"What? I'm not scared of some stuck-up Dece- Ow!" Miko yelped as Jack's elbow collided with her abdomen again.

"Giant evil alien robots, Miko. You do not want to make her mad." Jack said sharply.

Terabyte clenched her jaw tightly and with a curt deferential nod to Cliffjumper, the dark blue femme walked quickly to the Prime's office. Now the human children were going to be afraid of her. As if she would harm sparklings. Already the Autobot prejudice was tainting these innocents' minds. The spy shook her helm lightly and opened the door to the Prime's office. Upon entering, Terabyte found that the Prime was occupied with something or other on the surface of his desk, which was basically a giant datapad.

Placing her report on the edge of his desk, Terabyte stared at her pedes, not wanting to distract the Autobot leader, but still wanting to get his attention. He looked up slowly.

"Yes, Terabyte?"

Said femme turned her helm away nervously. She fiddled with the accessories on her cannon for a little bit before answering, just barely keeping herself from using Cybertronian. "** I fin- **I finished my report as requested... And..."

She couldn't do this. How would the Prime respond to such a presumptuous request? She was still a prisoner, for pit's sake!

"Go on." Optimus was now paying full attention to her. He was clearly expecting her to continue and would not allow her to back out now. Though she knew the Prime was still fairly young, the spy couldn't help but notice the age-old wisdom behind his blue optics. There was something else there too; like he knew a secret about her… It was frightening. She got a feeling that the mech could see right through her; straight into the depths of her very spark.

Terabyte slowly shuttered her optics for a moment to regain her composure. "Ratchet sent me to request living quarters for myself."

As soon as she'd said it, Terabyte realized how much that had sounded like she was trying to pass blame off on Ratchet. She would have rephrased her request had the Prime not spoken so soon.

"That can be arranged. As you know, this base is not large, because of that you will likely be sharing someone else's quarters." She nodded briskly as the Autobot continued, "If you will follow me, we can discuss the matter with the others."

Needless to say, the suggestion did not go over well.

**"You want us to share our personal quarters with a 'Con?!"**

"No way!"

"She'd kill us in our sleep, first chance she got."

"Big 'Bot, I really do want to trust her, but don't you think it's a little early for this?"

Terabyte winced at their accusations. She would never kill an Autobot in their sleep! She smirked. No, if she was going to offline an Autobot, she wanted them to be awake; to see and feel their termination coming.

As she fumed internally, her anger and hatred for the Autobots welling up inside her, the spy glared at her pedes. She sincerely hoped that she looked subdued and respectful, and not like she wanted to rip their helms off - which she did.

"I know it is risky, but it will not be without appropriate precautions. I will not force this responsibility upon any one of you, and you know that I would not ask you to do what I would not be willing to do myself." Optimus interrupted their protests, bringing silence to the room.

"Then why _don_'_t_ you do it yourself?" Miko asked from where the humans had been listening. They had been getting ready to go home when she and the Prime entered.

Terabyte's helm shot up in alarm. Involuntarily the mini-bot cringed away from the Prime, semi-successfully repressing a low whine from her engine. The idea terrified her, honestly. The Prime was one of the greatest Autobot warriors in Cybertronian history; to be that close to him would be suicide!

A rumbling chuckle came from the Prime. "Judging from her reaction, my assumption was correct… Our goal is not to terrify every mech that tries to join us, but to make them feel welcome." He looked at her with a ghost of a smile on his lips. Again she got the feeling that he knew more about her than he was letting on. Terabyte looked away quickly, slightly perturbed.

Silence fell once more as each mech considered their Prime's request. In that time, Terabyte considered her own preferences.

Optimus had already been ruled out. Bumblebee was out of the question; there was no way she'd live in the same room as the mech who'd tried to kill Skyquake. Arcee hated her, so that was pretty much not going to happen.

So, logically, Cliffjumper, Bulkhead, and Ratchet were the only plausible op-

"My answer is no!" Ratchet hollered from the next room.

Nevermind then; just Cliffjumper or Bulkhead. But which of them would volunteer? Terabyte really just wished she could have a place to herself, but that was not likely to be happening for a very long time. Sharing quarters would make it so much harder to hold her cover though... She wouldn't be able to be herself for the entirety of her mission.

"I'll take her." Cliffjumper said finally, breaking the silence. He shrugged, "I have an extra room in my quarters. Besides, like I said, I want to trust her."

Although a bit surprised at the depth of his sincerity, the Prussian blue mini-bot was not at all surprised by the red warrior's decision.

"No!"

All helms simultaneously turned to gape at the speaker's unexpected outburst. Arcee stepped out of her little corner, arms crossed stubbornly.

"No." She repeated firmly. "It's not safe; we can't trust her. She belongs in the brig, like the 'Con she is."

"'Cee? Give her a chance at least..." Cliffjumper argued, frowning as if puzzled by her reaction. He looked ready to add one of his lame jokes to release tension, but Arcee went on before he could.

"Give her a chance to do what? Stab you in the back? We've nearly lost you once already. I won't let that _killer_ be trusted!" Arcee yelled. She seemed to do that a lot. Terabyte wondered just what had happened that had engendered such hatred for the Decepticons in the femme. She tried not to think about how similar it was to her own hatred for the Autobots.

"Ever consider that people can change?" Terabyte asked quietly, hoping to use this opportunity to reinforce to the Autobots her wish to defect.

"A 'Con is a 'Con! You can't just decide, 'Oh hey, I'm going to become an Autobot' and expect us to be alright with that!"

'_I can't? Really? Aww, mech… And I'd thought it was working so well.' _Terabyte thought in a sarcastically innocent whine. She grinned under her mask.

"We agreed to give her an opportunity to defect, Arcee." Optimus reminded her gently. "We will stand by that decision. Cliffjumper, thank you for your willin-"

"Fine! Cliff' is too trusting though, it wouldn't be safe for him, or anyone else on this base." The blue and pink femme's optics shone with challenge as she interrupted her Prime. She was practically daring someone to deny it. "I'll take her. She needs someone to keep a sharp optic on her at all times. Optimus?"

Terabyte was getting really sick of being spoken about like she wasn't standing _right there_. Was she going to get any say in this? Eh, who was she kidding? POW's didn't get choices. She would just have to adapt with whatever the Autobots threw at her. That's part of why she'd been chosen for this mission; she was adaptable.

"Your point does have merit. Cliffjumper? Is that satisfactory?" The Prime asked, even though he had obviously already decided. Whether Cliffjumper agreed or not would probably have no impact on his choice.

The red front-liner had apparently come to the same conclusion she had. "Yup! Although I might want to get a thicker wall…" He trailed off, grinning at Arcee. The femme tore her burning glare away from the spy long enough to land it on Cliffjumper for a few astroseconds.

"Then it is decided. Terabyte, you will be sharing quarters with Arcee."

**Two rotations after Skyquake's awakening. Near midnight.**

_Logic. Centers. On…Line._

Skyquake could feel every system come sluggishly online, one by one. His helm ached and his processor was struggling to bring him online. Almost like it had never done it before… But that was absurd. Of course he'd woken up before… at some point…

Where was he? Skyquake tried to open his optics but they didn't respond. After several more attempts his optics finally opened and ruby optics were flooded with a blindingly bright light. He snapped his optics shut immediately. Or at least, he tried to. There was a several-nanoseconds-long lag between impulse and action.

The pain in his processors was getting worse every moment he was online. It felt like his processors were out of sync with each other, his processors running at three different speeds; causing his helm to feel like it was being torn apart. Skyquake tried to remember what had happened, but his memories were blurred and obscured by a mental fog. They felt… distant, out of reach. His optics dimmed as he attempted to ease the aching. He felt so weak, tired…

Terabyte! Where was she? Skyquake bolted back into alertness. He hoped she was alright. It had been so long since he'd seen her… Or anyone else for that matter. The mech frowned minutely. He couldn't even remember who he was supposed to know.

Forcing his processors into action, Skyquake tried to work out where he was based on what he'd seen in the short time that his optics were open. He wasn't with the Decepticons, the lights were far too bright…

Just before his mind slipped into the nothingness of stasis, Skyquake's processor provided the answer to his question.

He was with the Autobots.

Ratchet glared over at the Decepticon fighter lying unconscious on the medical berth, cluttering _his_ med-bay. Hearing a quiet beep from the monitoring system, the medic got up and checked the Decepticon's vital signs. He frowned at the screen that was telling him that Skyquake was conscious and online.

The red and white medic looked at the offending Decepticon, and his scowl deepened. No movement whatsoever. Nothing to indicate that the mech was awake. Ratchet went back to work, glancing up at the warrior frequently.

A few klicks later, he checked the Decepticon's vitals again. Back to normal: Minimal processor functions, lowered spark pulse. Must have been malfunctioning. Ratchet scowled at the medical equipment before returning to his desk, grumbling under his breath.

"Stupid, glitching, primitive human technology…"

**A.N. By the way, when I refer to Terabyte as a mini-bot, I simply mean that she is small. Like G-1 Bumblebee, Jazz and Cliffjumper were all called 'mini-bots'.**


	12. Scrapheap

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 12**

**Scrapheap**

_"Tera'!" She heard Skyquake roar._

_Gritting her denta, she looked up just in time to see the green jet land and transform next to where she was lying on the ground. The femme raised her gun-arm in a weak salute. He captured her gaze with worried optics, before facing the squad that had distracted her._

_Moments later the small squad was reduced to graying frames on the ground, each one pocked with blast marks and gaping holes. Skyquake was kneeling at her side almost before the deaths of the Autobot squad could register in her mind. It hurt so bad… Her spinal struts felt like they were on fire, burning through her whole frame like acid._

_At thought of acid, she realized that that was exactly what it was. Acid pellets. That was Prowl's special weapon, wasn't it? She had been lucky; she had moved just enough that the blast hit at an angle and part of the acid spray hadn't landed on her._

"_Hi, 'Quake." She whispered through the mist of pain that was clouding her thoughts. "How'd you get here? Bludgeon…"_

_Holding her up with her back to him, he gently began applying a cool gel to the acid burns, probably to counteract the acid before it ate into her systems. "It doesn't matter. Who did this?" She could almost feel his engine growl as he continued to rub the gel base onto the affected areas on her back and arm._

_As he worked she could feel the burning sensation fade into a numb throbbing. Involuntarily, her frame relaxed into Skyquake's supporting arms as exhaustion swept over her. "Doesn't matter…" She muttered, a faint smile lifting her lip-plates._

"_Terabyte!" He shook her lightly, jolting her systems into full alert again. "You can't recharge yet! You need your self-repair systems completely online; recharge level repairs aren't good enough."_

_She shook her helm faintly. Skyquake didn't have a very good foundation of basic first aid… The self-repair nanites worked better when they didn't have to keep her other systems functioning as well as repairing damage. She was going to tell him that, but she was just so tired._

"_I need to get you somewhere sheltered…" She heard Skyquake tell her. Her optics were beginning to dim again when she felt strong arms slip under her knees and shoulder wheels, gently lifting her off the silver ground._

_He was carrying her somewhere… Probably that shelter he'd mentioned. She could feel the tension in his chassis; he was furious about something. Her being injured by the Autobot Prowl? That was sweet of him._

_She listened to rapid thrum of his spark as he ran across the battlefield with her in his arms. A frown crossed her face-plates as she heard Skyquake grunt mutedly with each hit he took for her. He shouldn't be getting hurt for her…_

_The spy watched the Autobots' blue laser-fire shooting over her helm. For a brief moment it seemed beautiful, reminding her of Tetrastar. Blue was always her carrier's favorite color. Then the image of her carrier's charred and graying frame flashed over her processor; the blue smoke of that day filling the sky in her mind._

_Her engine whined, the memories bringing a familiar ache back into her spark. In response, Skyquake held her a little closer to his frame. It was so warm, strong; it made her feel secure. Nothing could hurt her as long as Skyquake was nearby. After entering a small indentation in the iron cliff face, he set her down carefully._

"_Are you alright? Not hit again?" The mech asked her worriedly._

"_I'm fine, Sky…" She replied, smiling up at him again. Frowning slightly, she realized that Skyquake couldn't see her smile. He never did. Briefly she considered lowering her mask so that she could reassure her friend, but her resolve failed her at the last moment._

_Her face betrayed too much; the spy knew very well that she had no control over her face-plates. To show someone her face would be like showing them her spark… She wasn't sure she could ever trust anyone that much. Not even Skyquake? She asked herself in her mind. She wasn't so sure… She'd trusted him with so much else. But no. Not yet anyway. She wanted to trust him that much, but she wasn't ready yet._

"_Terabyte, please tell me: Who shot you?" Skyquake asked, a dangerous hint to his voice. He didn't seem to have noticed her hesitation._

_Seeing how much it mattered to him, the spy told him quietly. "I think it was Prowl, it was his acid pellets."_

"_I'll kill him." Skyquake growled firmly. She had no doubts that he would fulfill that vow. Prowl would die that joor. He rested his hand against the side of her face – or at least where her mask covered her face. "Will you be okay here? I won't leave you if you're not…"_

"_I'll be fine." She looked deep into his optics. "Just… be careful, Skyquake. Promise me that?"_

"_I swear on my spark that I will come back." Skyquake vowed solemnly, holding his hand to her face for another few nanoseconds before running out into the battle. She barely heard his dark mutter, "Though I doubt Prowl ever will…"_

**Third rotation since Skyquake's awakening.**

Terabyte woke up at 0330 in the vain and desperate hope that Arcee would be recharging so that she could have some time to herself. She had gotten up a groon earlier than her normal last rotation, yet the pink and blue femme had already been awake, sitting stoically on her berth as she carefully observed Terabyte. This morning, if one could even call it that yet, Terabyte had gotten herself up more than two whole groons early. The Autobot better be asleep.

The Prussian blue femme sat up with a small groan and opened her golden optics slowly, her bio-lights casting a faint yellow glow on her berth. Terabyte looked over to where the other femme's berth was, her optics bright and hopeful.

"Scrap."

She glared at Arcee, who was - as usual - sitting up on her berth with a datapad in hand. The warrior femme glanced up at her with a casual smile.

"Good cycle, Terabyte." Arcee greeted her all too cheerfully. "_Lovely_ morning, isn't it?"

Terabyte growled, her early morning patience worn thin. She'd never cared for anything earlier than 0600, and being up this early had made her grouchy. "Do you _ever _sleep?!"

Arcee merely smiled and went back to reading her book. The Decepticon femme ran her delicate servos down her smooth battle mask. With a tremendous groaning sigh, Terabyte flung herself back into the berth; glaring holes into the roof as the small berth bounced from the force with which she'd thrown herself down on it.

There was no way she'd be able to survive this mission.

**A little later that morning.**

The three-mech expedition shivered in unison as the chilly Arctic winds bellowed, slipping under their armor and chilling them to the core. At this point, the exhausted and nearly frozen spy was beginning to think there was such a thing as Fate. If there was, it was most certainly determined to extinguish her.

Nightracer had strongly believed in fate and destiny… The poor clone had always believed her fate was to live forever short of the first Nightracer's legacy. Terabyte wondered sadly where her last femme friend was now. Was she even still online? Last she had seen of the pale blue sniper was shortly after Skyquake came to Earth. Nightracer had decided to go neutral…

Terabyte shoved the thoughts of her friend out of her mind as Bulkhead answered something Bumblebee had said.

"-eadings are off the chart!"

'_I bet that's how a scan of my core temperature looks like – only in the opposite direction.' _The Prussian blue mini-bot thought grumpily as she caught a glimpse of the scanner Bulkhead was waving around. Even from her distance, she could tell that the readings were unusually high. Energon in the Arctic. Great. _'Probably should put it in my report anyway. Soundwave likes a thorough report.'_

A small note was filed away in the back of her processor. Terabyte rubbed the layer of frost build-up off her forearms and scanned the surrounding area on several frequencies. Optics dimming, she analyzed the results on her HUD; still following Bulkhead, the team leader.

Odd… "Sir?" Terabyte wasn't sure what his rank was, only that it was higher than her.

"Yeah?" The frost-coated green mech stopped and looked at her questioningly. "Problem?"

"No sir. I ran a multi-frequency scan of the area and located something unusual at coordinates: 89.6513 degrees south by 153.2074 degrees east. It has ancient Cybertronian shielding technology and is made of a Cybertonium alloy. The shield blocks most scanning frequencies, which is why yo- our sensors back at base didn't pick it up." The intel agent reported sharply. Her lip-plates tightened at the light static coming from her vocalizer; the frigid temperatures were starting affect some of her non-vital systems.

"**Any clue what's in it?"** 'Bee asked with a suspiciously human-sounding buzz.

Bulkhead, who was much larger and had thicker armor, was not nearly as affected by the cold. It was having the worst effects by far on Terabyte, whose frame wasn't built for such extremes. What would a neutral be doing in the midst of a battle, or a frozen wasteland on an organic world?

"Negative, _sir_." She answered stiffly, nowhere near forgiving the would-be killer of Skyquake. She just barely held a respectful manner – not, however, without a significantly patronizing undertone. "As I stated before, there is a shield around the object which deflects most scanning frequencies. The object is impenetrable, at this distance at least, unless the shield is shut down."

"We better check it out." Bulkhead concluded as he led the way to the coordinates Terabyte had provided.

Her numb pedes slipped on the icy hillside. She was starting to lose feeling in her audio finials, the sensitive panels almost completely coated with ice. She hated the cold. The first time she'd seen snow, she'd been fascinated by it. However, along with vorns of experience, that fascination had faded to a loathing. Her frame simply didn't handle it well.

When they reached the top of the small hill, Terabyte easily spotted the object jutting out of the ice, its black surface standing out sharply against the white landscape. It looked like a pod of some sort, leaving the spy to wonder what the mysterious object contained.

**"Come on! I wonder what's inside?"** Bumblebee said excitedly, bouncing slightly; though from the cold or the excitement was difficult to tell. As the mech spoke, he slid gracefully down the incline, using the slick surface like a ramp.

Bulkhead and Terabyte followed suit, the large mech nearly losing his footing at the bottom. Soon they had reached the small pod, each trying to figure out what it was for.

"It's too small to be a ship... Even for a mech your size." Bulkhead thought aloud. He quickly added, "No offense, Terabyte."

"None taken." She sighed lightly, a convulsive shiver running through her frame as the wind blew especially strong. The young femme wasn't sure how much longer she could stay out here. It was so _cold_!

**"You'd be warmer if you weren't flaring your armor so much."** The yellow scout pointed out with a few beeps and clicks to convey confusion and mild concern.

"Flaring my armor?" She asked innocently... or perhaps more stubbornly, "I'm not flaring my armor. This is normal."

Terabyte supposed the mech had a point, but she was willing to be a little colder if it meant not letting her guard down.

Bumblebee shrugged, obviously not caring enough to press his point. He returned to studying the pod. Terabyte kept an optic on their surroundings in case anyone else was in the area. She certainly didn't feel like a battle today; the rotation had been bad enough as it was, thanks.

She turned to face the Autobot when Bulkhead addressed her. "Terabyte, think you can scan it now that we're closer? I know your sensors are more sensitive than mine."

The Prussian blue optic ridge quirked up minutely. "The doorwinger has an even better sensory network, why not ask him, sir?" She tilted her helm away embarrassed, "Besides, at the moment I can't scan a thing, the cold has started interfering with my systems. I'm not even able to _feel_ my sensory relays, much less use them."

Bulkhead turned to Bumblebee questioningly, receiving a short blip in morse code as a response. 'Ditto'. The green Autobot sighed, Terabyte thought it sounded rather relieved; her suspicions were confirmed by the mech's tone as he spoke next.

"We'll just have to take it back to base then." His servos went up to the side of his helm, indicating he was using the comm. Not that it mattered, since he spoke out loud anyway. "Hey Ratch', we're ready for a bridge home."

Once they were back at the Autobots' base – which, frustratingly enough, Terabyte still had no idea where that actually was – the medic sent them all into the med-bay and hooked Bulkhead and Bumblebee up to a monitoring system after running his medical scanner over all of them several times. There were only three monitors, one of which was hooked up to Skyquake.

The spy couldn't help but notice the Autobots' prejudice in their order of priorities. Their mechs first, leaving her untended. Terabyte didn't mind though; she hadn't been too fond of medics since that one 'procedure' several vorns back. A repressed shudder rolled down her struts at the memory.

Absently she rubbed her finials as she watched the medic poke and prod and scan the unknown object. So far he'd come to the same conclusion she had: It was unable to be scanned and it was of ancient Cybertronian origin.

After a few breems of examining the pod, Ratchet had Cliffjumper move it to another part of the base where it could thaw without getting under-pede. That was about when Bulkhead decided he'd had enough of the medical equipment and tore it out of his chassis, two or three tubes at a time.

"I told ya, Doc, we're fine."

Ratchet laid a restraining hand on the large mech's shoulder. "The only way to know you're 'fine' Bulkhead, is to endure standard defrosting procedure. You _know_ prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures can cause permanent system damage."

Terabyte snorted disbelievingly as she ignored yet another error message on her HUD telling her to 'Acquire medical aid. Systems have been exposed to a subzero environment: Improper defrosting may result in extensive damage.' Yeah… that pretty much summed up her standing with the Autobots.

Half a groon later, Optimus and Arcee had returned from their separate patrols and had been briefed on everything the Antarctic expedition had discovered. Now up to date, Optimus addressed Ratchet.

"Have you learned anything more of our Antarctic find?"

"Not yet." Ratchet answered huffily. "The pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid."

For a while, all was quiet; Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper having left to check up on the human children. The red Dodge Challenger had gone in Arcee's place to check on the eldest fleshy; mentioning something about playing with the 'cops' again. Terabyte guessed that the word was referring to human Enforcers.

Finally the Prime and Arcee walked back over to the ground-bridge.

Nodding his helm to the bridge controls, the Prime indicated for Ratchet to set the coordinates for the icy wasteland. "Arcee and I will search for any clues regarding the origin and purpose of the pod."

The ground bridge opened and Ratchet pointed a small device at first the Prime and then his second in command, pressing a button that made their insignias glow bright, Energon blue for a nanosecond. "Only until your sensors sound." The medic warned. "Remember, once your core temperature reaches the blue zone, system failures aren't likely… they're imminent."

The Prussian blue spy smiled faintly. The medic _did_ have a flair for the dramatic, didn't he? Autobots were all so… stiff. Their voices were heavy with undertones and secret meanings, alterior motives. It set all of her battle systems constantly on high alert. Terabyte turned her attention inward, compiling a report for Soundwave into a compressed databurst. Every rotation she added a few more details to her report, which she would send at the end of the quartex if not contacted before then.

The two Autobots were about to enter the green portal when the passage that led outside was filled with the roar of engines. She wasn't allowed to go outside; the Autobots were at least smart enough to know that she could triangulate her location as soon as she left the missile silo. As it was, the spy hadn't even managed to glean what _country_ they were in, much less pinpoint a location. Not even the accent of the humans could help her; of the four humans she'd heard or seen, each one of them was of a different nation.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee came in calmly enough, but Cliffjumper – show off that he was – came in full speed, slamming on his brakes at the entry with a loud squeal of rubber, throwing his alt-mode into a 360 degree spin before shuddering to a halt. A slightly pale Jack emerged from the car's interior, noticeably putting a significant distance between himself and the red vehicle a soon as possible. All three mechs transformed quickly, Cliffjumper bent over with laughter at the fleshy's reaction. Terabyte couldn't quite repress the bubble of laughter that had risen up in her chassis. Poor kid.

Ratchet looked at the three children and looked up at Optimus. "Uhh… Aren't they supposed to be in school?"

Miko smiled mischievously. "On a Saturday? No, we get the whole day off…" She looked up at the medic, her squishy optics twinkling. "… To spend with you!"

Raf looked up into Terabyte's face and smiled, waving at her. Terabyte cocked her helm at the tiny human, waving awkwardly. She kept her optics on the child curiously.

The spiky-helmed boy heard Arcee mention the Antarctic to Jack and walked over to them. "Antarctic? I've always wanted to see snow…" He said wistfully.

"I would invite you to join, Rafael," Optimus answered, "but the conditions are far too harsh; even for we Autobots."

Terabyte winced at the bad grammar. Surely if the Autobot leader was going to insist they speak English he'd at least speak it properly.

"I understand…" Raf sighed, looking extremely disappointed.

Optimus paused yet again on the ramp to the portal. Slowly the Prime turned around and smiled at the boy. "… But I will bring you back a snowball."

Raf's head shot up eagerly. "Really? That would be great!"

**One Earth hour later. Rec room.**

Terabyte had sat back down on the stairs to the rec room and was simply allowing her processors to wander. The main portions of her thoughts were on Skyquake: When would he wake up? Would he remember her? Would he remember _anything_?

The other part of her was watching the three humans play. Today it was a racing game of some sort, and Jack was leaving Miko in the dust. Terabyte made a small mental note to never let Miko drive; the girl's driving was so poor, she wondered if Miko was _trying_ to hit every wall, sign, and power pole in the game. The older two seemed to be ignoring Raf and he was beginning to look really left out.

The spy restrained a groan. Back on the Nemesis, she'd always had work to do. Here though, she had nothing to occupy her time when she wasn't on a mission… How did the Autobots stay sane? Terabyte smirked as a small thought popped into her mind. Half of them _didn't _stay sane.

Raf got up off the couch and walked towards the stairs and where she was sitting. "Hey Terabyte." He said somewhat dejectedly. "I'm going to go… um, exploring."

"All right." Inspiration struck her – or was it just boredom? – and she spoke up, "Would you mind if I came with?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind. I'm not really going anywhere…"

She nodded and followed Raf's lead. He wandered down several corridors for a while before he started playing a game with himself, apparently okay with her presence. She had made sure to keep a decent distance between herself and the human, so she wouldn't bother him.

Terabyte smiled at Raf's antics. He was play-acting being on a mission in the Antarctic. Subtly she played back an audio recording of the blizzard-like conditions. Finally – she'd probably be terribly embarrassed about it later – Terabyte played along with the human, pretending that she was with him, her mission commander, on a search for a lost ship and its treasure. Raf was pleased to no end when she started playing.

Younglings always had such vivid imaginations; she was constantly surprised by the things they could come up with. The days when she was a youngling seemed so far away... Sometimes she wondered if she ever had been a youngling. Besides, with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper all busy helping Ratchet and the other kids ignoring him, the little boy needed someone to play with.

Back in Protihex, when she was a youngling, there had been a little mechling quite a bit younger than herself that was always picked on by the other sparklings for his size. He was much smaller than the other sparklings… Terabyte had befriended the little mech, coming to see him as a little brother. She didn't know if the mech was still online or not. Very few had survived the destruction of Protihex, but... Maybe, she'd tell herself, just maybe he survived – like she did – Maybe she'd see him again some orn.

Raf seemed to have noticed her mood change and stopped, looking up at her with worried eyes. "What's wrong?"

She looked away slightly, not sure what to make of the kid's concern. She was a POW, Terabyte had expected the humans to be terrified of her; certainly not worry about how she was feeling. So far however, Jack was the only human who seemed even a little bit cautious toward her.

"Um… Thank-you?" Terabyte smiled shyly at the little fleshy. She wasn't sure why, but it was important to her to befriend this little scrap of meat that wasn't even a quarter of a vorn old. The resemblance to her adopted brother was too much for her to dismiss. Too bad he couldn't see her smile. "I'm alright… You just reminded me of someone I know. He was like a little brother to me. I appreciate your concern though… No one has cared how I felt in – a long time."

Raf was quiet for a little while then, "What's his name? Where is he?"

"His name was-" Terabyte frowned, hearing a scurrying sound above them. She raised her left arm towards the roof, her frown deepening when she remembered that Ratchet had disabled her weapons systems and confiscated her mini-cannon when he repaired her. "I've really got to stop doing that…"

"What was that?" Raf asked, looking around nervously. "Hello?"

Human and femme both jumped back as something fell in front of them. Raf tripped and fell to the ground with a frightened yelp. Terabyte stared at the tiny metal creature. It opened huge indigo optics and raised its disproportionate helm to look at them.

Raf laughed shakily, "Wh-where'd you come from?" The creature blinked adorably at him in response, making Terabyte smile. Such a cute little thing couldn't be that bad could it? Terabyte didn't bother to scan it. She felt almost as if she ought to have recognized the creature… something she'd read in the files… "The Autobots never said anything about pets…"

"I haven't seen anything like it before either, Raf. It is adorable though." Terabyte replied quietly, crouching down to look at it more closely.

"W-want to play fetch?" The boy asked the creature, holding up the bolt he'd picked up earlier, pretending it was part of their 'treasure'. He was obviously still a bit wary of the creature. It seemed disoriented from its fall from the roof. That was understandable; it had landed on its helm after all, probably rattled the little thing's systems.

Nevertheless, the creature started dancing in an excited circle the moment it saw the bolt. Raf threw it down the corridor. The thing was incredibly fast and had gotten to the bolt almost as soon as it was thrown. There was a whirring sound and Raf shouted, "No! Don't eat that! Y-you'll choke!"

The little silver thing turned around and blinked its huge optics up at him innocently; bolt nowhere to be found. The speed with which it had eaten the bolt was somewhat disturbing, but when Raf picked the creature up and started to pet it like a kitten, Terabyte couldn't bring herself to take it away.

"Be careful, Raf. It might be dangerous…" The spy looked at the large-helmed creature that was now in a light recharge in Raf's arms. Something so trusting couldn't possibly hurt, right?

**A.N. Ooh are they in for trouble now… My reasoning for Terabyte not recognizing the Scraplet is that since she is relatively young and didn't spend a lot of time on field in the latter vorns of the war when the Scraplets became a more common occurrence (more on that coming) she would have read and heard about them, but never seen one. And my reasons for the Scraplet not recognizing Terabyte as lunch was that when it fell from the roof it landed on its helm and got its tiny little processor momentarily scrambled.**

**Also, my next update may or may not be a little late, I've taken a short break from the story and am working on a one-shot/prologue/thing detailing the destruction of Protihex.**


	13. Infestation

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 13**

**Infestation**

**Quick note. If you haven't read my one shot "Ages Come and Ages Go" I would highly recommend that you do so. Things will make much more sense with a stronger idea of Terabyte's past.**

_The spy glanced around the corner into Kaon's med-bay, quickly darting behind the wall; pressing her dorsal plates to the cold iron, she peeked again. Knockout was standing off to the side, busily buffing his polish. Vain fool._

_Taking advantage of the medic's lack of attention to anything further than his own chassis, the dark colored and slightly dented and scuffed femme snuck into the med-bay tossing a glance over her shoulder as she went. This was embarrassing... But she really didn't want to deal with the arrogant, egotistic mech._

_The red medic tilted his helm towards her and she dived quickly behind a berth, sincerely hoping he hadn't seen her. After waiting a few astroseconds, the spy dared to make her move. She had located the magnetic stylus... on the table directly behind the medic. Just her luck._

_She stood up quietly and darted from her cover to the next berth up, bringing her a few more meters closer to her objective. Once she got the stylus, she would have to find and obtain the armor paints; she'd run out of her personal supply. Those would be even trickier; the paints were stored in the subspace cabinet that Knockout was standing in front of._

_The femme pulled in a deep vent of air, cooling her systems and gathering her courage. There was a certain thrill to this, entering enemy territory, stealing an object of value from right under his nose… _

_Black feet tip-toed silently across the medical bay as the spy approached the counter where Knockout was still studiously buffing himself. She grinned at the absurd, tuneless humming coming from the medic. He had a hideous singing voice. _

_Now that she was close enough to reach, the Prussian blue and black femme slowly stretched her silver hand towards the magnetic stylus, stilling her vents. The medic stepped sideways towards her and she instantly went stiff, hand still outstretched. Knockout was now directly between the stylus and herself, warily she tilted her helm up to see if she'd been discovered._

_The arrogant red mech looked down at her and blinked. "What. Are you __**doing**__?" He asked slowly._

_Frame overheating both from having stilled her vents for too long and from embarrassment at her predicament, the two-wheeler snatched her hand away from where it had been only inches from touching the mech's elbow. She stood up straighter, facing the medic._

"_I- I needed the… uh… magnetic stylus…" She spluttered very professionally, realizing just how deep of trouble she had just got herself into. _

_He laughed, putting the buffer down and taking a step towards her, to which she responded by taking two backwards. "Well, Terabyte, if you wanted to __**see**__ me, you need only have asked; I __**do**__ try to make myself available."_

_The small, scuffed femme spluttered for a few more nanoseconds before regaining her composure and pulling up her 'commander' voice. "Medic, all I want, is the stylus and a paint kit. If you could be so kind as to give them to me?"_

_Knockout grinned at her and winked one dark red optic. "Yes, of __**course**__. How silly of me." He drawled._

_She raised one cold, silver hand to press between her optics with a repressed groan after he turned to the cabinet. The cool servos felt good against her overheated faceplates. "Just get the supplies."_

_After a few clicks of digging around for the correct shades of gray, blue, and black, the medic turned around to her and handed the paint kit and a stylus to her. Knockout lifted her free hand in his own – her cannon arm, not the wisest of decisions – and spoke. "The requested items, I believe? Beautiful colors, should get you back to your usual state of beauty, __**dear**__ Terabyte."_

_As he raised her hand to his lip plates, it took all of the spy's will power not to purge in his face. Instead, lowering her mini-cannon to its lowest frequency – enough to cause significant cosmetic damage, but not so much that she could get in trouble for it – grinning savagely, she fired directly into his face. "Thank you for the supplies doctor… By the way, you might want to look in the mirror sometime, you look terrible."_

_Knockout , oh so gracefully, fell backwards on his aft; a look of total shock and horror twisting his face-plates – now with peeling paint and a thick layer of black char – most comically. It really did look hideous…_

_She walked away as if nothing happened before stopping at the door to look back at the stunned mech, who was now running one hand over his face, inspecting the damage with growing dread as he was no doubt imagining how it looked. "Do have a good cycle, Medic. Although I must say, I hope I won't be seeing you… Hurts the optics."_

_Luckily for her, Shadowlight did all of her repairs, otherwise the medic would have been certain to take vengeance for his spoiled finish._

Terabyte smiled at the memory; never again did Knockout approach her for anything other than business, and even then not without keeping a very close optic on where her cannon was pointing. She never did like the Decepticon medic, far too full of himself.

The spy glanced down at Raf and the little creature and smiled sadly as she was once again reminded of her little brother. She had promised him, when they were separated that terrible day, that she would find him. Now, more than a decavorn later, she still hadn't been able to find the white and gray mechling. She sincerely hoped he was alive… there were nearly 500 known survivors of Protihex; perhaps he was among them.

Meanwhile her thoughts were interrupted as they entered the main chamber.

"Hey guys! Look what Terabyte and I found." Raf said, raising the recharging creature slightly, careful not to disturb it. The other humans got up and came towards them, whereas Ratchet simply called out exasperatedly.

"We're busy!" As he spoke, the Autobot medic glanced over at Raf.

Terabyte's helm shot up from where she was bent on one knee next to Raf, one hand resting gently on the child's back and shoulders. In spite of the drastic size difference, she had forgotten, just for a nanosecond, that he wasn't… Ratchet jumped up with a squeal, dropping the damaged pipe in his hands. Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper all looked up to see what had startled the medic, before duplicating Ratchet's response almost exactly and transforming their hands into blasters.

Instinctively, Terabyte leaped in front of the three human younglings, placing her own frame in the Autobots' line of fire. **"What in the world is your problem?! Pointing weapons at younglings? Human younglings no less?!"**

Simultaneously Miko stepped up and shouted, "Hey, hey! What's with you guys?"

All three Autobots looked at the mini-bot incredulously. "Scraplet!"

"**You don't know what a Scraplet is?"** Bumblebee asked, twitching his blaster at the creature recharging behind her.

"What's a Scraplet?" Raf asked slowly, shooting a wary glance at the metal creature in his arms as if second guessing the wisdom of holding it.

"Only one of the deadliest vermin to walk the face of Cybertron." Ratchet answered gravely.

'_I thought that was the Autobots.' _She thought bitterly. Terabyte swapped to English, hoping she wouldn't get reamed or punished – she still wasn't convinced that the Autobots would continue to be as lenient as they had been, she could very well get beaten for disobedience – for dropping into Cybertronian. "_That_s a Scraplet? I've read about Scraplets but… Why hasn't it attacked yet?"

Jack raised one eyebrow at the medic disbelievingly, "This little thing?"

"But you're giant _robots_!" Miko exclaimed in amazement as she gestured to the slowly waking creature, "Scrappy here is, well, teeny."

"You have no idea of the damage that 'teeny' thing can do!" Cliffjumper retorted, looking a bit too trigger happy for Terabyte's comfort. She didn't move from her protective stance in front of Raf.

"Aww, this little guy wouldn't hurt anything!" Raf said, smiling at the creature as it raised its giant helm and looked around, optics brightening as it zeroed in on the large group of Autobots in front of them.

"I'm not so sure Raf… if its processors were scrambled when it hit its helm, then it would only have appeared harmless until a light defrag- Bumblebee watch-!" Terabyte yelled as the Scraplet shot across the room in a bee-line for the yellow scout.

He let out a prolonged, high-pitch beep before crashing backwards to the ground as he tried to escape the Scraplet's many razor like denta. It ran up and down the mech's yellow leg rapidly, leaving a trailing hollow where armor had been.

With a fierce yell, Raf came out from behind her wielding a large crowbar, running straight to where Bumblebee had managed to kick the Scraplet to the floor. Terabyte gaped at the little fleshy as he raised the crowbar and hit the Scraplet with it again and again… and again. When the creature was little more than a small pile of scrap and sparking wires, Jack put a restraining hand on the little boy's shoulder.

"Easy there, killer." The older human said with a bemused smile.

"I'm pretty sure it's dead now, Raf." Terabyte added quietly.

As Raf ran over to where Ratchet was assessing his guardian's damage, the femme heard Miko tell Jack, the human girl's tone indicating that she was quite impressed.

"Whoa. I did _not_ see that one coming!"

Terabyte let out a draft of hot air. At least she wasn't the only one. She never would have expected such violence from Raf. Others maybe, but Raf?

"- esh-wound. He'll live." Ratchet assured Raf.

"Now do you believe me?" Cliffjumper said his tone plainly screaming 'Told you so!', "All Scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal. Especially _living_ metal!"

"Well, bug squashed. Game over, right?" Jack asked.

"If only it were that simple, kid." Terabyte answered softly.

"No. When it comes to Scraplets, there is never just one. And I fear I know how they got in here…" Ratchet muttered.

"The pod." Terabyte and the others all finished.

**At the pod.**

The Decepticon femme glared at the thawed pod as if by force of will she could close the gaping hole in its front.

"It's a trap. A Scraplet trap." Ratchet said, dramatically pointing out the obvious.

Bulkhead stuck his helm into the gap and groaned. "An empty Scraplet trap."

"It was probably ejected into space eons ago."

"Only when it landed in the Arctic, the temperature kept them in stasis." She spoke her thoughts aloud as she calculated all the possible outcomes of an infestation.

Jack stepped around a puddle of cold water and spoke up, "Until _we_ got it thawed."

"And now they're ready for 'Autobot brunch'." Miko finished. Terabyte had to take a minute to access the internet and look up 'brunch'. English was so strange, in spite of its simplicity.

"So… How many are we talking about?" Raf asked nervously.

"Thousands." Ratchet replied. "Power malfunctions, groundbridge malfunctions… Sure signs that their infestation is well under way."

With that dire statement, the group returned to the main room.

"Ratchet to Optimus. We have a situation…" There was no response on the line other than a low buzz of static. "Optimus, come in!" The medic growled and slammed his fist on the terminal. "Scraplets have gotten to the comm. link systems. If we don't eradicate this infestation, they will reduce this whole base to a scrapheap."

"Well I say we bug outta here and let 'em keep it!" Bulkhead said emphatically. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper both nodded their agreement as the humans ran up to the rail so they could communicate better. Terabyte stood off to the side a bit, where she could still take part in the discussion without being intrusive.

"We can't leave, Skyquake isn't well enough to be moved. Even if he were, I'm pretty sure none of us can carry him." Terabyte protested with a worried glance at the Autobots. She wouldn't put it past them to just leave Skyquake to the Scraplets.

"Evacuation is not an option." Ratchet agreed with her. The spy let out a vent of relief. "If we don't get the ground bridge back online stat, Optimus and Arcee will perish."

Jack took a step forward with a confused expression distorting his fleshy face. "They… will?"

Before anyone could answer, Miko ran up to her large green guardian with her hands on her hips. "Bulkhead! You _never_ run!"

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot. I _have_. They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small, juicy bits first—fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, 'til there's nothing left, and I mean _nothing_... not even your optics." Bulkhead replied.

"Wow… That's… a little gruesome for younglings, don't you think?" Terabyte muttered under her breath. Whatever happened to common sense?

Jack scowled a little bit before stepping up. "You have to let us help."

"We're not made of metal!" Raf exclaimed as the wisdom of Jack's words hit him.

The spy smirked. _'I like you kid, but it took you that long to work that out?' _

"Yeah! Scraplets can't hurt us." The pink haired girl agreed.

Ratchet raised one hand to his chin thoughtfully. "_Typically_, I find your… fleshiness to be your least engaging quality… But it would appear to provide an advantage under these extremes."

'_And the humans complained that __**I **__was insulting.' _She thought drily.

"Good. So we pair off. One 'bot one human." Jack decided firmly. Turning to Ratchet, "I'll watch your back while you repair the groundbridge."

"And we go bug hunting." Miko said excitedly. Everyone in the room looked over at Bulkhead and Bumblebee's scared moans.

It was soon agreed that Miko would go with Bulkhead, and Raf with Bumblebee. Cliffjumper suggested that he go with Terabyte to check the third portion of the base.

"And who will be your protection?" Ratchet rolled his optics as he spoke, plainly showing what he thought of that idea.

Terabyte huffed and crossed her arms over her chassis, comforted by the weight of her cannon; Cliffjumper had convinced the other Autobots that they needed all the firepower they could get. "I don't need protecting. If you trusted me, I'd go alone."

At the same time, Cliffjumper leaned his weight back and grinned at the medic. "'Preciate your concern for my well-being, Doc, but do I ever need backup?"

"Huh. As if I care if you idiots want to get yourselves eaten alive. My only concern is how Arcee would react if I let you get killed." The medic shuffled around in the ground bridge wiring.

Terabyte couldn't help but notice the underlying fondness in Ratchet's gruff tone. She had, for a short time, felt his mind in hers and she knew that he didn't like expressing himself. So he acted grouchy and tried to pretend he didn't have friends that he cared about. Then if they died, it would be easier to pretend it didn't hurt.

But all sides in a war have minorities. And the good Autobots were most certainly a minority...from her experience, they were about as easy to find as - to use a human term - finding a needle in a haystack

"I'd watch your back if I were you, Cliff'." Bulkhead warned as he and Miko headed down one of the three other two teams quickly followed suit.

Cliffjumper looked back at her and winked. "Nah, that's what I brought you for, right?"

She nodded. This mech tossed his trust around like an oily rag. The femme wondered just how he still could after so many vorns of war. Even on the right side of the war, betrayal was inevitable... she'd learned that the hard way.

At the sound of metal clinking above them, Terabyte jumped around with her cannon charged and ready; her right hand holding her cannon-arm steady. Crouching down into battle stance, the spy scanned the area carefully, the golden glow of her weapon adding extra light.

Nothing. She stood up with a shake of her helm and followed as the red mech continued on cautiously.

"Getting jumpy?" He teased. Her only response was a low growl.

Not long after, a huge crash followed by a loud shout and blaster fire rang through the base, making the walls vibrate. Terabyte stared at the smoking hole in the roof, one optic ridge cocked. A thoroughly roasted organic creature fell from the opening, landing with a light thump by the femme's foot.

Another shriek split the air as blasters were fired at the carcass. Terabyte leapt away from the pile of dust that once was alive, her foot stinging from her proximity to the blast.

"Die, Scraplet! Di-Oh... That wasn't a Scraplet was it?"

She looked at the mech in front of her, trying hard not to laugh. She wasn't particularly successful. "Getting jumpy?" She asked with a wry grin. "I believe that that was a 'rat'. Although it's rather hard to tell from what's left of it."

After that, the search had been relatively uneventful up until the last room. Mech and femme slowly entered the cargo bay, weapons ready.

The lights were off, completely eaten through by the Scraplets. Cautiously, Terabyte crouched down and, steadying her mini-cannon, activated her alt-mode's headlights, which were positioned in a vertical row between her chest plates. The light shone in the dark cargo bay, bouncing off of the gleaming armor of Scraplets.

There were hundreds of the creatures all over the walls, roof, and floor, busily chomping away at the metal surfaces. At that moment, every single purple pair of optics in the room turned to the two Cybertronians.

"Ohh mech… We are _so_ dead." Cliffjumper muttered as the creatures opened their mouths, revealing millions of sharp teeth.

"We aren't dead yet, _run_!" Terabyte shouted as she started blasting the Scraplets, now flying at them almost too fast to track, mouths opening and closing rapidly. They were so close together that each blast took out several at a time, but there were far too many to fight.

Giving up on weapons, both transformed and sped down the halls as fast as their wheels could take them. The Decepticon femme winced as thousands of tiny teeth clamped down on her armor, shredding through it instantly wherever they landed. With a glance at Cliffjumper, she saw that he was also covered with the Scraplets. Blue life-En flowed from their wounds as they sped away from the mech-eating swarm.

They burst into the ground bridge chamber and transformed, slamming the metal doors behind them. Bulkhead and Miko both came in at the same time, and Bumblebee and Raf were already there. Cliffjumper and Terabyte were in the worst shape of the three teams.

"-re leaking Energon like-" Bulkhead was saying as he walked in.

But the Scraplets were already in the chamber. They swarmed the air, Ratchet, Jack, and the others all attacking furiously. In spite of the large number of inert Scraplets on the floor, there seemed like an endless number of them.

Quickly enough, Cliffjumper, Terabyte, Bulkhead, and Miko had all joined the fray, taking out as many of the creatures as they could. Girly screams could be heard coming from Bulkhead, along with the grunts and moans of everyone else as they acquired more wounds. So far, damage was still relatively minimal, just shallow scrapes.

Just when she was wondering if they would ever stop coming, the room went mercifully quiet, the floor littered with offlined Scraplets.

"We get 'em all?" Jack asked, panting slightly.

Terabyte looked over at the others, all sitting up against the wall, examining their damage. She slid herself down into a corner a little ways away and pulled out her med-kit, repairing what she could. She had been doing all of her own repairs for so long, ever since Darksh-

But she couldn't think about that now. If she ever stopped to think, Terabyte wasn't sure if she'd be able to go on. She'd seen so much loss in her relatively short vorns…

Hearing a loud groan from Bumblebee, she looked over just in time to see the yellow scout bash his helm against the box he was laying on. The crash echoed slightly.

"So the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulkhead asked, dismayed.

Ratchet spoke sternly from where he was helping fix Cliffjumper's shoulder. It was leaking life-En from a punctured fuel line. "We will not allow ourselves to become their next meal. If we do, Optimus and Arcee will never make it out of the Arctic. We must get the ground bridge operational."

Terabyte shot a worried glance at the door she and Cliffjumper had shut. It was creaking loudly as the Scraplets worked to chew through the heavy duty, multi-layer door.

"Then we can send them anywhere on Earth!" Raf exclaimed.

"Not just anywhere, we can't endanger the innocents on this planet." Terabyte pointed out. She forced herself not to cast a warning glare in the Autobots' direction. They wouldn't care about the innocent, but from what she could tell from her short time with them, they would heed her suggestion to maintain their false reputation.

Jack tilted his head for a moment then spoke. "Why not back to the Arctic? We already know they don't do cold."

Miko grinned and pumped her fist in the air. "Sweet! One stop shopping!"

"Given the body mass of the Scraplet…" Ratchet mumbled thoughtfully, "Subzero temperatures _should_ freeze them on contact… Think, Ratchet think! If the ground bridge is still down,"

Terabyte and the medic concluded simultaneously, both shooting the other a dark look as they did so, "There must be a breach in the Energon fuel line!"

"**That's two levels down!" **Bumblebee whined as he banged his helm on the box again with a discouraged whirr.

"**Would you quit do-"** Terabyte cut herself off abruptly and started over with stiffly respectful English. "Apologies sir. I am simply _concerned_ for your neural circuitry, as you seem intent on reducing your processors to scrap."

Raf tried and failed to stifle a giggle. "She does have a point, 'Bee."

"Uh, if we weren't breaching, we could down and fix it." Bulkhead gestured to the life-En running down his leg.

Jack hefted his fire extinguisher to his shoulder. "How do we find it?"

"And how do we fix it?" Raf finished.

Terabyte admired the humans' courage. When she was a youngling, she didn't have half that much bravery. Until Protihex. But she wasn't really a youngling after that. Who could be?

Not knowing the base perfectly yet, she remained silent, waiting for one of the Autobots to answer. In the end it was Ratchet who replied.

"Miko, you know where Bulkhead's quarters are, correct?" The girl nodded. "Take the first left after that and go to the end of the corridor, and turn right. The fuel lines run along the wall. Got it?"

They all nodded and Ratchet continued. "Take a repair kit with you and find the breach. All you should need to do is weld an appropriately sized patch over the leak."

The medic handed them a tool kit and a few sheets of light weight patch metal. It would be temporary, but it would work.

"Got it." Jack confirmed. "Go to Bulkhead's quarters, take a left, a right, find the hole, weld it shut. C'mon guys. We can do this."

If anyone noticed the waver his voice, they didn't mention it.

Nearly a breem had passed and the fleshies still hadn't returned. Ratchet and Terabyte wearily continued repairs while the rest of them lay against the wall in silence.

Finally the large, olive green Wrecker broke the eerie quiet, which until then had been pierced only by the ominously creaking doors and the ever-increasing sound of metal teeth chomping away.

"So if we get-" Bulkhead cut himself off. "_When_ we get the ground bridge working, we send the creepy crawlies out?" He cycled a deep vent, with a wince. "Bring our 'Bots in."

" We can't bring the Prime and the second in command in first. If we do, the Scraplets will have no reason to leave." Terabyte sighed, now - at Ratchet's request - trying to stem the flow of life-En from Bumblebee's leg. Suffering from Energon loss herself, the femme hadn't had the energy to bother resisting. "We'll need bait."

"Where are we gonna get bait?" Bulkhead shouted angrily. "Scraplets already helped themselves to everything we've got!" He waved one arm at the partially eaten base and the nearly chewed through door that was the only thing between them and the Scraplets.

"You volunteering, Decepticon?" Ratchet snarled. "Because there is no way I'm ordering anyone to do that."

_'Except me, of course. It's fine if the '__** Con**__ does it." _She thought sourly. "Yes. I realize that. But we still need bait. I was not suggesting you do it. We need bait; I'm a prisoner. I'm disposable." The spy said quietly, inserting resignation to her tone. If she was going to be forced to risk her aft for _Autobots_ then they had better believe she did so out of the kindness of her noble, repentant spark.

"Terabyte, you don't have to do this." Cliffjumper whispered. The red mech was badly damaged.

"Oh really." She gave him a flat look. "Can you honestly tell me I have a choice? I'm not _trustworthy_ enough for you and I'm more disposable than your own mechs. No. I do have to do this; there's no one else who will."

The Autobots fell silent. Just then the kids ran in, Jack leading.

"Ratchet!" He shouted, "All systems go!"

At the same moment the door disintegrated, and the swarms of Scraplets flew in, mouths open wide.

"Fire it up!" Miko yelled.

Ratchet stood up, stumbled over to the ground bridge controls as Scraplets attacked him again. Reaching the switch, the medic slammed his hand into it, falling with the lever and landing on his face plates with a crash.

"Ground bridge... Activating."

The Prussian blue two-wheeler wobbled to her pedes and boosted her temperatures as much as she safely could. Her plan worked and the Scraplets, who saw in infrared, left the Autobots and targeted her.

"Come and get me, you little scrap-heads!" She shouted as she ran into the portal to the freezing Antarctic.

Optimus and Arcee were stumbling towards the ground bridge portal, looking almost frozen solid. Terabyte stumbled as the frigid air came into contact with her purposefully overheated frame with a hiss of steam.

"Get down! Now!" She yelled as the Scraplets came pouring through the portal behind her. The femme wondered how badly she would be punished for daring to give the Prime and his second orders. A sound beating for sure.

The Scraplets froze solid and knocked her to the snow on impact. The two Autobots braced themselves for whatever they were expectin only to be lightly pounded with a barrage of offlined Scraplets.

Once they were back at base and Ratchet was repairing the two commanders, the spy bowed in front of the Prime, with her helm brushing the dusty floor. The Autobots and humans all stared at her in shock, though the terrified femme didn't see their expressions. If she had presumed to give Megatron an order like that, even to save his life, her punishment would be severe. She could only imagine how much worse it would be with the Autobots, destroyers of cities.

"My apologies, Lord Prime." Terabyte whispered, her helm still resting on the ground. Her frame gave a convulsive shiver, though not from the recent cold, and she rushed to continue. "Mighty Leader, I offer my humblest apologies. It was not my place to give orders and I have exceeded my rank as prisoner of war in doing so."

Shaking, the small femme unclasped her cannon and deactivated her Energon dagger, pointedly shifting it so that she couldn't extend it without damaging the vital fuel line in her arm. Ultimate submission. With the Decepticons, such open submission often made punishment less severe, as she could offer no resistance. Holding her cannon up to the Prime, Terabyte waited patiently for the inevitable pain, her armor clamped almost painfully tight to her protoform.

She heard the huge mech stand up and step towards her, each pede-fall announcing his approach with a fearsome bang. She had never been strictly punished before; she was good at her job and followed orders. The femme was terrified of the Autobot leader. Skyquake had taught her to be able to fight mechs nearly twice her size, but there was no way to train for sitting at the mercy of the mech who could go hand to hand with Megatron.

She shuddered again, an involuntary whimper coming from her engine as she realized what she'd just done. The Prime was going to beat her to scrap, and she had just given away her only chance of living through it.


	14. New Revelations

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 14**

**New Revelations**

_"Are you feeling better now?" She asked Skyquake as they sat down for midday Energon. It had become habitual to take their break together. The femme was worried for her friend, who had taken considerable damage saving her life on her most recent mission._

_"Yes m'lady." He teased her in mock formality. "Your personal bodyguard and pin cushion has been well repaired."_

_She grinned and punched him in the arm with a laugh. "You are not my 'bodyguard'. I can take care of myself just fine."_

_"Lady Terabyte!" Skyquake exclaimed, drawing up an offended look. He held his arm as if it were greatly injured, even though he'd probably hardly even felt her friendly punch. His other hand snuck across the table to her plate. "You wound me! To protect you is my highest duty."_

_"Good sir," She said, playfully adopting the old Cybertronian. She didn't notice until later how sincere Skyquake's last statement was; she later realized that the sincerity in his tone went much deeper than his act. "Would my protection just happen to entail your devouring of my dessert?"_

_The massive gray hand paused halfway to his mouth, copper biscuit about to be eaten. Ruby optics twinkling, Skyquake shrugged and tossed the treat into his mouth. He chewed long and slow, making hugely exaggerated moans of delight. _

_"Yes my lady. Your dessert was poison of the worst kind. Had I not acted for your safety, I believe you may have perished of joy; for this copper round must have been a slice of happiness incarnate."_

_"You. Are. Evil." The spy said cheerfully. "And you now owe me another dessert. But for the moment, I have to get back to my post. See you later, my good bodyguard and pin cushion."_

_She stood to leave, picking up the empty cubes and plates to put away as she left. _

_"Terabyte," Skyquake said quickly, making her stop and look at the mech with one optic ridge cocked curiously. "About that dessert... Are you free later today?"_

_She gave him a puzzled look and her helm fell slightly. She sighed at the long rotation that lay ahead of her. "I'm sorry Sky... I'd love to, really. But the mech that takes over when my shift ends had a medical checkup... this was my only break for the rotation."_

_"So that means our training session is off too..." He sounded so disappointed about it. His optics were saddened for a moment before his face-plates went back to his usual formal expression that he used with others. _

_"I'm sorry... Lunch was wonderful, Sky. I - I have to go now. I'll see you next rotation." The femme gently pulled her hand away and turned to leave only to walk straight into the jet twins a little ways away._

_"So... what was that about?" Darkshine asked._

_"Nothing. I just," The spy shot a glance back at the green jet, who had stood up and left through the door on the opposite side. He was stiff and commanderly again. She noticed that his wings were drooping slightly. "Commander Skyquake took a joke a little more seriously than I'd intended."_

_"Argument then?" Shadowlight asked with a little smirk._

_"No... I don't want to talk about it." She sighed, "I have work to do."_

_"Not an option, femme. What happened? 'Cause it looked to me like after more than three and a half vorns, the mech's finally worked up the courage to ask you out." Shadowlight said as the twin jets dragged her back to a table. _

"_And you said no without a second's thought." Darkshine added.._

_"Look, I just told him he owed me dessert since he ate mine. He offered to pay up later today, but I'm on duty till midnight. That was all." She insisted stubbornly; her face-plates heating slightly. Once again she was grateful for her battle mask. _

"_You're 'on duty till midnight'. That was your excuse?" Darkshine's optics dimmed as she checked the duty rosters. "__**Monitor**__ duty!? Really?"_

"_You spend almost all of your spare time with him, for more than three vorns, and you turned down a date for __**monitor duty**__." Shadowlight said flatly. _

_A small lump of guilt formed in her tanks as she remembered his expression. She looked away and stood up, answering sharply. "Nice talking to you, but if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my shift."_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit…**

**She shuddered again, an involuntary whimper coming from her engine as she realized what she'd just done. The Prime was going to beat her to scrap, and she had just given away her only chance of living through it.**

The mini-bot sat there, shaking on the floor, as the no doubt furious Prime approached her with long, purposed strides. Her Prussian blue, black, and gray armor was clamped tightly to her frame in the hopes of making herself as small a target as possible. In spite of the huge vents of cold air she was sucking in rapidly, her frame was overheating as she listened to each painfully loud pede-fall.

The footsteps ceased and a large, flat hand landed on her shoulders. Terabyte flinched away, sheer terror preventing her from noticing the distinct lack of pain under the huge hand. Her spark was pounding so hard against her chassis that a tiny portion of her processor wondered if it would leave a dent.

"**Terabyte."** Pure shock at the gentleness and pain in his deep voice made the spy look up. As she locked optics with the Matrix-bearer, Terabyte was once again washed over with the impression of being seen through. Her engine emitted another tiny whine.

'_Why, oh why didn't I let the Scraplets eat me when I had the chance?' _She thought as she braced herself for the inevitable pain. _'It would have been so much kinder of a fate.'_

"**Terabyte. I would never harm a fellow Autobot. No matter what the situation." **Her expression must have betrayed how thoroughly unconvinced she was. She ignored the doubtlessly faked grief in his voice.

He paused, and in spite of herself, Terabyte whispered, **"I am not an Autobot." **Fear removed any of the anger and bite that her tone might have held.

"**Not yet, but we have promised you that chance. I swore you would come to no harm while you are with us; I will keep my word." **Optimus said gently, but firmly. His Cybertronian was strong, calming. His accent spoke of a relatively high lineage before the war.

"**By presuming to give a commanding officer orders, I infringed upon the terms you set, Lord Prime." **She whispered again in reply. The femme was not about to believe that she wasn't going to be beaten. As soon as she relaxed, the pain would come.

**"Your intentions were honest; your reasons for disobedience put our lives before your own. You infringed on my terms with my safety in mind. I will not punish you for that. It is not our way to punish without cause."**

With that, the Prime held out his other hand to her, palm up. Terabyte stared at the flat appendage blankly from where she still knelt on the floor, before – afraid of offending the Autobot leader at whose mercy she still sat – she weakly accepted the hand, allowing the Prime to help her to her pedes.

"And Terabyte," Optimus said, now in English. "I am not Megatron. Optimus Prime, or simply one of the two is sufficient. I do not demand extravagant titles and would prefer it if they were not used."

"Yes my lo- Prime." She trembled under his mild rebuke. Even the gentlest tones from the Prime held terrifying amounts of power, and she was still far from comfort.

As soon as she was able, Terabyte fled the Autobots' presence, seeking refuge in the empty bay that was being used as a mess room. The shaken femme sat down in the far corner and stared blankly at the table, trying to regain her composure and figure out what had just happened.

So far as she could tell, she ought to be a smear on the bottom of the Prime's foot by now. But he hadn't even reprimanded her. And he seemed so... sad. As if her fear of him was painful...

Her helm jerked up as an unknown EM field brushed against her own cautiously. Instinctively, Terabyte tightened her field away from...

"Bumblebee." She said slowly, forcing her tone to neutral. She didn't even need to look up to recognize the mech. "Is there something I am required for, sir?"

The scout shifted nervously, plainly discomfited by her formality. He rubbed the back of his helm with one hand. **"Uh not really... I just kind of thought you might want to... I don't know, talk?"**

"Talk." She parroted suspiciously. "About what?"

He squirmed a little at her obvious and unhidden dislike for him, but sat down in the chair across from her anyway. **"I guess what I really mean is… I'm sorry."**

"**What for?" **Terabyte snarled, switching to Cybertronian as her temper spiked. **"If it's about earlier, you can just take your **_**sympathy**_** somewhere else. I don't want it."**

Bumblebee held his hands up, palms out in a very human gesture, shaking his helm firmly. **"No, that's not why I came… I came to apologize… f-for what I – what I did to Skyquake. And through him, what I did to you…"**

Terabyte's expression remained stoically blank as she regarded him carefully. The small femme wondered just how long the Autobot had been rehearsing this elaborate string of deception. Although… his tone was just a bit too sincere for her idea of a lie. A sliver of her spark begged her not to dismiss his apology. She earnestly tried to ignore it.

"**I-I acted without thinking, and I… what I did was- was brutal and cruel and… I'm so, so sorry." **He finished. His unusually large blue optics filled with what appeared to be genuine remorse. He also looked like he had no expectations for forgiveness and as much as it hurt the scout; he was okay with that. Like he thought he deserved the guilt he was feeling.

In that moment, Terabyte realized that Bumblebee was truly sorry. This wasn't part of the Autobot act. This was an honest plea for forgiveness, an attempt to make amends. At the same time, Terabyte realized just how _young_ the yellow scout was. Probably only a little bit older than her. But he carried himself in a way that reminded her so much of Smokey. For just a second she saw her little brother reflected in him, his doorwings tilted just like so...

"**You realize I can't forgive you…" **She said softly, the revelations stuck too firmly in her mind to allow her to speak harshly. **"Not yet, anyway."**

She couldn't forgive him, not now, maybe not ever. But she couldn't stay angry at the young mech, not after that. As an Autobot, she would never like him, but he was another one of the few good Autobots; one of those who'd ended up on the wrong side of the war.

The scout looked down sadly and nodded. He gave a series of low blips in the humans' Morse code.

_I understand…_

The two of them sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thought processes. According to her chronometer, it was about a quarter of a groon later that Bumblebee spoke again, tentatively.

"**Optimus would never hurt you, you know."**

The spy shuddered as she thought about her encounter with the huge, powerful mech. It always felt like he was just staring through her, straight to the core of her very being. Like he knew everything about her… who she'd been, who she'd become… It was unnerving to say the least.

The Prime may have spared her – this time. But that was just part of the act. While she was pretending to want to be an Autobot to gain their trust, they were pretending to be good mechs to gain her trust. The circle of deceit was ironic.

She laughed humorlessly, and not without a fearful waver. **"Yeah… That's why you're all afraid of him. I've seen how he can subdue each of his best soldiers with a glance." **She let out a hot vent. **"Harmless, I'm sure."**

"**Terabyte," **Bumblebee smiled wide and laughed. Or at least he let out a string of whirrs and beeps in an imitation of laughter. Terabyte knew that Megatron had severely damaged his vocal processor; the fact that he could even talk - albeit tonelessly - was amazing. **"We aren't **_**afraid**_** of Optimus! Not like that anyway. He's almost like a father to me, he and his team have raised me since I was a youngling. No, we love and respect him as our leader; maybe we are a little scared of him, but not because he hurts us, or threatens us with punishment. We are afraid of disappointing him."**

"**Because of what he'd **_**do**_** to you if you did." **Terabyte concluded stubbornly.

"**No, because we respect him." **Bumblebee gauged the disbelief in her optics before continuing. **"It's like… when you were a youngling, you wanted your sire to be happy with you; you didn't want to do something that would disappoint him, right?"**

She nodded her pointed black helm slowly, wondering just where the scout was taking this conversation. Memories of Bullwing and all the times she had done something to try and impress him flooded her mind. Mixed among them were the times she'd let down her sire… The sad, grieved optics that told her, 'Terabyte… you knew better than that… I _know_ you knew better than that…'

"**It's like that."**

Thankfully, the scout chose that moment to leave. Right before he left, he'd laid one black hand gently on her shoulder for a moment. She wasn't sure, but he'd seemed to understand that he'd stirred up memories that she needed to be alone with.

In the silence of the empty bay Terabyte stared unseeing at the table top, her golden optics dimmed as she submerged her mind in the flood of her short younglinghood memories. A single drop of coolant slid from her optics and rolled forlornly over the edge of her battle mask.

Arcee walked towards Optimus's office with long, purposeful strides; the image of the Decepticon femme cowering at his feet with her armor clamped down and trembling foremost in her thoughts. She was determined and nothing he said would change her mind. This was important. With a flourish, the blue and pink two-wheeler burst into the Prime's office and pressed her servos into his desk top.

"Optimus, we need to talk."

He looked up at her with one optic ridge raised. "May I ask what about?"

"The Decepticon." Arcee answered bluntly.

"Arcee, we have had this discussion before and I have not changed my opinion on the matter. We have promised the femme a chance to defect, and we will allow her to do so. We will _not _withhold our trust unless she proves herself unworthy of it. Have I made myself clear?" He said with a long sigh.

"No, it's not ab- I have kind of been nagging about that haven't I?" Her leader's expression was answer enough. Surely she'd only gone to him once or twice… or three or four times… Arcee stopped counting with a wry smile. "Sorry."

"So if not that, what _do_ you wish to discuss about Terabyte?" Optimus asked, lowering his helm into his hands and massaging his temples.

"Did you see how _small_ she was?" She asked incredulously. She hadn't realized just how tiny the femme was until the incident that afternoon. Terabyte had never before seemed so young and… vulnerable. Arcee felt bad about yelling at the mech; he was obviously tired and stressed, the last thing he needed was to be yelled at. But she couldn't help herself. "This whole time, she's been hiding her size under flared armor. Even in _recharge_, she hasn't let her guard down. The femme is terrified of us! Pit, Prime, she's still a youngling!"

"I know Arcee." Prime answered with a weary sigh. Wise, sorrowful, cobalt optics peered up at her from where he was seated. "I know. In her short vorns, Terabyte has seen more suffering than perhaps any of us ever will. There is more anger and grief in her spark than even yours, Arcee. That is why we must help her if she will allow us."

"The Matrix tell you that?" She asked softly.

"Yes."

Arcee frowned. "Optimus, she's Protihexian isn't she? The neutral city Magnus and the Wreckers blew when they went against your orders to off the trines?"

The femme sincerely hoped that her - as Jack called it - gut feeling would prove wrong.

"Yes, though you should know by now that they were not responsible for the destruction of her home."

Her intuition rarely was wrong, and this time was to be no exception. Arcee jerked backwards at the simple confirmation as she was hit with the full meaning that it held. If that femme was from Protihex...

"Oh... Prime that's-" She trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Indeed."

Once she thought she had calmed down a bit, Terabyte went to the one mech she could trust: Skyquake.

While the Autobots kept the security cameras operating, Ratchet assured her that there was no audio recording and that she would not be disturbed.

Apparently, her complete and utter terror had shaken the Autobots into adding yet another layer of decency to their facade. There was so much falsehood and alternate agendas… She was lying about who she was and what her purpose was and the Autobots were lying about theirs.

She sat down on the edge of the berth and looked down at the mech's peaceful face. Absently she fingered the accessories on her cannon, which surprisingly the Prime had allowed her to keep.

**"Skyquake..." **She whispered, **"I don't know if I can do this. The Autobots destroyed everything I ever loved... maybe even you..."**

She brushed her hand against his face gently before dragging it back into her lap. She gazed down at her hands, laced together in her lap. **"And now they're acting kind and forgiving… I - I don't know if I can go through with this. Sky... I need you now more than ever."**

The femme very nearly lowered her mask, but stopped herself when she remembered the camera. **"I've worn this mask for so long... I'm beginning to wonder if I'm forgetting the femme who's underneath it... Skyquake, you taught me how to live again... to trust..."**

She laughed sadly. **"I think I'll need to review that lesson... I seem to be forgetting... "**

**"-eem to be forgetting..." **A beautiful voice told him with a sad laugh. She was sad again. Skyquake frowned mentally as his unsynced processors rolled slowly into the disharmony that was consciousness. It had been so long since he'd heard that voice... He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Terabyte.

**"Skyquake... please wake up." **She whispered brokenly. The femme crossed her arms over his chest plates and, laying her helm on her arms, wept. He could feel each cold drop of coolant fall on his armor and slide to the berth. Her EM field was flaring violently against his own.

Though it took a massive amount of energy and effort, Skyquake slowly raised one heavy arm and wrapped it around her gently. He rubbed her dorsal plating as he tried to comfort her. He onlined his optics and captured the weeping femme in his worried gaze.

Skyquake was almost positive she hadn't realized he was awake.

As he sat there, comforting his closest friend, Skyquake tried to make his processors work together. His memories were still blocked. There was one thing of which he was now certain though. This femme, crying into his chassis, was special to him, and it was important that he do whatever he could to make her happy again.

After nearly a breem, she stopped crying. Skyquake's helm felt like it would fall apart, but that didn't matter to him. What mattered was being there for Terabyte.

Just as this thought was painstakingly forming itself in his fragmented processors, she jerked upright and stared into his optics, pink coolant streaking her face, pooled on the edge of her mask. It was almost like her processor had waited until just now to inform her of his awakening.

**"Skyquake? You're awake?"** She rubbed her golden optics as if wondering if she was dreaming. **"D- do you... remember me?"**

He blinked. Of course he remembered her! How could he forget? Then again, he'd forgotten everything else, so perhaps she was right to be concerned.

**"Tera'... Hi." **The army green jet fought to form the words and his voice was strange to him... to be honest, he sounded like an official retard. He struggled to form coherent words. When he thought, it was all arranged properly, but when he opened his mouth, the words were mixed up and wrong. **"Where are... I?"**

Not answering his question, or seeming to notice his apparent mental deficiency, Terabyte hugged him with more strength than he'd have thought possible from such a little femme.

**"Skyquake! Thank goodness you're alright!" **She mumbled into his armor as she refused to release her vice-like hug. He ignored the spikes of pain in his chassis, where it felt like he'd been badly wounded, quite recently. **"I thought... I was worried that you might not wake up, or that you wouldn't be you..."**

He returned her embrace, gently interrupting her relieved rambling. **"Ter-yte. What ... happed?" **He winced as the ache in his processor grew exponentially. He wished the words would come out straight.

Unfortunately, she caught the motion and once again ignored his question, more concerned with his well-being. She got up and ran from the small room shouting in an odd language that he couldn't understand.

"Medic! He's awake! He's awake!"

Thud. Thud, thump. Thunk.

By the time Terabyte and the medic returned, all Skyquake could hear, feel, or think of was the pounding of his aching processors. Words were being spoken, but he couldn't hear them properly through the pounding in his helm.

Someone, the medic he assumed, slipped something into his wrist and then stood back, watching him expectantly. For a few nanoseconds nothing happened, then without warning, the pounding silenced to a low throb in the back of his processors and the terrible helm-splitting ache melted away to no more than a niggling unpleasantness.

"Skyquake. Can you hear me?" The medic asked impatiently.

**"Wha?" **Skyquake replied, hating the fact that he sounded so... stupid. There was just no other way to describe it. But with his processors out of sync, there wasn't anything he could do about it either.

"Good, he can hear."

Terabyte glared at the medic and answered angrily in the strange language. "He can't understand you! How is that good? He ought to have downloaded the language by now." She tossed a worried look at him.

Skyquake tried to give her a reassuring smile, but only part of his lip-plates responded, resulting in a doubtlessly hideous mess. Apparently he'd taken a rather hard hit to thee helm and his self-repairs hadn't completely fixed things like motor control and speech yet. Her worried scowl deepened and she yelled at the medic some more in the unknown words.

"There's something wrong with his mind, Ratchet. You're supposed to be a medic! You're supposed to fix him. Not just watch him malfunction and tell me everything's good!"

Skyquake growled in frustration. His processors weren't functioning normally and simple tasks took monumental effort and still came out all wrong. And all the yelling was making his helm hurt again.

"He's killed more mechs than I can count! He doesn't deserve to even _live_!" The red and white medic shouted in reply.

He sounded pained, but since Skyquake couldn't understand what was being said, he had no idea why. The medic's gestures indicated that it was his (Skyquake's) fault, but he didn't know what he'd done wrong.

"What gives _you_ the right to decide who lives and who dies? If that's how you-"

**"Stop!" **He yelled at them both. **"Stop fight!"**

Both turned to stare at him, surprised by his outburst.

"Skyquake's right. Arguing is pointless, we need to find out what's wrong and fix it. We don't even know if the new processor is working." Terabyte agreed, though Skyquake could only guess what she'd said.

The medic nodded and stepped towards him, speaking. **"I will need to perform a medical sync to see how well your processors are functioning."**

It took him a moment to realize that he could actually understand, then he nodded slowly. **"Not."**

The medic blinked, confused and impatient. **"What do you mean 'not'? Not what?"**

After analyzing the question, Skyquake tried to force his vocalizer to form the words correctly. It failed and yet again only one word came out. **"Functning."**

**"Functioning. Not functioning." **Terabyte translated. Skyquake let out a grateful sigh. **"He's trying to tell us that his processors aren't functioning properly." **She turned to the medic and spoke in the other language again.

Whatever she was saying, she obviously didn't want him to hear. Skyquake scowled minutely. Since when did _Terabyte_ try to protect _him_? It was supposed to be the other way around. "Ratchet… can processor damage even _be_ fixed?"

"That's what this scan is meant to find out." The medic answered with dire tones. He approached Skyquake with a cord and hub extended. **"Open your data port and plug into the hub. Let's get this over with."**

Skyquake complied as quickly as he could. As soon as he had, the medic pulled up a chair and plugged his own cord in. Moments later the medic's presence filled his processor, causing the tiny fragmented scraps of his firewalls to raise automatically. They did nothing to stop the alien presence in his mind.

The medic was in his helm! Skyquake's disjointed thoughts screamed. His logic centers seized up and crashed, making his thoughts wild and frightened. His processors were running at three different speeds, one of which was now non-functional. Someone was in his mind and he wanted that someone out!

'_Go away! Get out of my head!' _Skyquake shouted both mentally and physically. _'Get __**out**__!'_

* * *

**_A.N. I believe this chapter is a pretty good answer to the questions I got in your reviews, beloved and much appreciated readers. More of Skyquake and a teeny bit of romance. _**

**_Thanks and credit to enmused for assisting with sorting out the somewhat garbled outline of this chapter especially._**


	15. Visions of the Past

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 15**

**Visions of the Past**

**Okay. I discovered between the last chapter and this one, that my computer randomly decided that it would be a great idea to just delete a whole scene in the middle of chapter fourteen, so I ask that you all bear with me and if you read chapter fourteen previously please read it again to get that rather important scene.**

**Also, if you haven't read Ages Come and Ages Go, parts of this chapter will make **_**no sense whatsoever**_** without the background it provides. The same goes for the part of chapter fourteen as explained above. I really hate my computer sometimes.**

_The eight monitors in front of her all showed the exact same image that they had for the past joor and a half. It was now 0337 in the morning and her optics were beginning to dim. In just eight more klicks, the person with morning shift would come relieve her and she'd be free to go back to her quarters until she needed to get ready for her next mission._

_She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the events of her lunch break the whole time she'd been sitting there, staring at the empty halls. The tower was still, no movement all night. The femme heaved a huge vent and settled back into her seat. Just two minutes left now._

_An orange and green femme waltzed in with a bright purple cube of some odd variety of Energon. She tried not to cringe at the hideously garish paint job. With a curt nod to the femme, she left the monitor room with a sigh of relief. She was definitely glad she didn't have to work there all the time._

_The navy and black spy went into her quarters and flopped herself down with a sigh. Her golden bio-lights shone through the cracks in her armor on her upper legs, chest and neck. She frowned and checked the duty roster._

_Good._

_**0710.**_

_The small femme stood awkwardly in front of the door, still trying to decide if she was actually going to follow through with her plan or if she was just going to give up and go to work early. Finally she raised one hand to the door and knocked quietly._

_Nothing._

_She stared at the door for a while, mentally warring over whether or not she ought to try again. She wasn't going to ring the doorbell; she knew very well that the mech hated doorbells. She knocked again, louder this time._

_Skyquake opened the door and looked down at her. "Morning."_

_She nodded, but didn't say anything. For several klicks she stood there awkwardly until Skyquake finally spoke up._

_"So." She glanced up to see him grinning down at her with a slightly bemused expression. "Is there any particular reason for you coming to my quarters and waking me up at seven in the morning? Or were you just going to stand in my doorway for the fun of it?"_

_Her nervousness melted away and she smiled."Nope, it was all just to inconvenience you, 'cause I'm mean like that."_

_"I see..." Skyquake said slowly. He blinked as the rest of his systems booted up. "Okay, no I don't. So what's up?"_

_"Um..." Maybe this wasn't such a great plan. "I've got a mission at 1100 and I'm not sure how long it'll be... So... I thought it'd be nice to have our normal training time earlier today? And maybe get a little something to eat when we're done?"_

_His optics lit up and he smiled, resting one heavy hand on her shoulder as they headed towards the training room. "I would be honored to join you, Lady Terabyte."_

"_Not at all, the honor is mine I assure you, good pin cushion." She teased lightly._

"_You're not going to let that one go are you?"_

"_Nope."_

_They came in from training with heated frames and high spirits. She had successfully managed to knock Skyquake to the training mat for the first time, and was as a result, feeling quite proud of herself. His suggestion that she use her opponent's size against them, using her own tiny Protihexian frame to gain the advantage in speed and agility. Both of them still laughing at Skyquake's expression when she knocked the huge mech down, they sat down in the quiet corner that they usually sat at._

"_Something cold and refreshing?" Sky asked her as he got up to get the dessert he'd owed her._

"_Ooh yes. That sounds great! How about that chilled silver jelly? The one with liquid nitrogen on top?" That one was her favorite._

"_Of course." Skyquake laughed. "What else? You love the silver."_

_He came back with her requested dessert and a green slice of something she'd never seen before for himself._

"_What __**is**__ that?" She asked as she poked it lightly with her utensil. It jiggled furiously before returning to its original position._

"_I haven't got a clue. Lugnut called it the chef's special. Decided to try it out for curiosity's sake." He said with a grin as he too poked it. "I'm beginning to wonder the wisdom of that…"_

_She laughed quietly. "Curiosity off-ed the photovoltaic cat, or so they say."_

_For a while they ate their desserts in companionable silence before Skyquake spoke up again, somewhat tentatively. He raised his eating utensil, casually gesturing with it. "So… why do you keep your battle mask raised all the time? Am I just that terrifying?"_

_The little femme smiled weakly at his teasing and poked around at the remains of her jelly, suddenly not hungry. "I-it's for personal reasons… I ..."_

_The truth of the matter was that she was afraid to trust again. She was afraid to completely trust someone. It hurt to consider not trusting her best friend, but she just wasn't ready to take it down. The femme picked at her food for a bit more. She wanted to trust him fully. Just... not yet. _

_He seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it and reached forward and squeezed her hand gently. "Hey... it's okay. It's not a big deal. You have your reasons for it and I respect that." He smiled at her._

_"Thank you, Sky." She smiled back, relieved. Her spark twinged painfully at the ever present mental reminder: He'd never seen her smile..._

Skyquake lashed out at the enemy presence, trying with all his might to either eliminate it or make it go away. His helm ached so badly. The presence was blocking his attacks, but other than that, nothing was affecting the medic. In fact, he seemed to be _enjoying _Skyquake's pain. After a while the medic spoke up in his mind; boredom evident in his tone.

'_Are you done yet? I have work to do.'_

'_GET OUT OF MY MIND!' _Skyquake yelled mentally, still attacking the medic's mind. His logic processors were slowly rebooting, but were still nonfunctional.

'_You do realize this is a one-way connection. There's nothing you can do to hurt me.'_

Skyquake fumed in his thoughts, glaring at the medic both mentally and physically. _'I can keep you from doing anything.'_

'_True, but the longer I am in your mind, the more your helm hurts. I'm here to help you, Decepticon.' _The other mech didn't seem too pleased about it at all.

'_I don't want you in my helm.' _Skyquake replied stubbornly.

'_And I don't want to be in your rust-heap of a helm.' _The presence retorted. _'I don't have time for this…'_

Skyquake got the distinct impression that the medic had just slumped his helm into his hands in exasperation. After a few nanoseconds the medic came up with a compromise.

'_Would you let me do my job if she,' _An image of Terabyte appeared in Skyquake's mind. _'were here to make sure I'm not trying to hurt you?'_

The green mech glared mentally at the medic, but finally shook his helm. _'Just get it over with.' _He opened his mind to the invasive and grouchy presence. He didn't want Terabyte to see just how fragmented his processors were. It would only hurt her.

The presence caught that thought and nodded, beginning his work of examining Skyquake's processors. Skyquake watched the medic's every movement warily until they were nearly half-way done.

From the medic's thoughts, Skyquake gathered that the damage was not as bad as it had felt to him. While it would take time for his processors, all of which were now online, to work together properly, the medic was able to speed up the process, making his processors run much closer to in sync, though still not perfectly.

'_What is a Decepticon?' _He asked finally.

The presence spluttered for a while, his thoughts filled with hatred and a long string of insults. Skyquake got the impression that the medic had no clue how to answer that. After a while the medic answered simply: _'I'll let Optimus handle that one…'_

'_Who's Optimus?' _His processors were telling him that this 'Optimus' was an enemy that he had orders to kill, but Skyquake decided to find out who he was before he made too firm of judgement.

'_Ah…' _Once again there was a long spell in which the medic thought about how best to answer. He settled on a vague, _'You'll learn soon enough. I'm finished.'_

'_So, you're getting out of my mind now?'_

'_Yes.'_

Skyquake could tell that the medic had helped, because while his helm still ached, his processors weren't nearly so disjointed. Right before the medic left, he uploaded a data package to Skyquake.

_'With that, you'll be able to understand the native languages of this world. Use English.'_

Focusing on gratitude, Skyquake transmitted his thanks to the medic before he disconnected. Skyquake did the same with a sigh of relief. It was good to be alone in one's own helm.

"So?" Terabyte asked the medic as soon as they'd pulled away from the hub.

"Processor damage is minimal, and he is mentally stable, if a little confused. He has little to no memory." Ratchet answered. Terabyte gave a little gasp and was about to speak when the medic held up his hands for her to let him continue. "However, from what I can tell, the memories aren't lost; they're just inaccessible at the moment."

He already knew that, what he really wanted to know was why he couldn't talk and move without enormous effort. Terabyte glanced over at him worriedly before voicing his question. She didn't seem to have realized that he could understand what she was saying now.

"If there's no damage to his processors, why isn't he acting... normal?"

Ratchet sighed and put on a longsuffering tone like he was talking to a group of younglings. "It's like when you were younger. Directly after a major processor upgrade, you would find it difficult to speak and move properly even though you knew how to. You would be a little confused and a few of your memories would be blurred, especially the most recent ones. That is all that is wrong with Skyquake. It will take time for him to adjust to a new processor and it's setting off his mental balance."

Skyquake spoke slowly and deliberately, trying to make the words come out right. "When...long?" He growled at the mixed up words. He hoped that it wouldn't be long. He didn't like feeling so slow.

"A few orns, a few quartex. It depends." Ratchet answered firmly.

A few quartex. He would be like this for orns... if he was lucky. Skyquake let out a groan of dismay. Quartex! He wasn't sure if he could handle the ache in his helm and this dreaded slowness for that long.

Looking over at Terabyte, who had sat down beside him, Skyquake tried to put on a brave face. Apparently it didn't work to well. She reached up and wrapped her dainty little hands around his own comfortingly.

The medic chose this time to leave the room, grumbling under his breath about sappy Decepticons infesting his med-bay.

Terabyte smiled down at him, her delicately pointed features visible. The Prussian blue mask had been retracted, revealing the beautiful face behind it.

A vague memory floated to the surface of his thoughts. That same silvery face hovered over him, bathed in the spectacular pinks and oranges of a desert sunset. Shining as they fell from her upward slanted golden optics were drops of coolant. He could feel them splashing on to his chest, stinging slightly as they slid into his exposed circuitry.

The image faded as his optics, both in reality and in the memory, dimmed. He could feel his systems shutting down as exhaustion swept over his aching frame. Her words echoed quietly through his mind as he slipped into a peaceful recharge.

_'It's going to be alright... I promise!'_

Terabyte smiled down at the green jet, hoping that she'd successfully hidden her concern. She never was any good at controlling her faceplates. The minute his ruby optics dimmed, the Prussian blue battle mask snapped back into position.

After he had fallen into recharge, Terabyte stayed with him for a few more groons before the medic came back in and shooed her away for the night.

"Arcee. Come escort Terabyte to your quarters. I want her out of my wires stat!" Ratchet complained into the comm line.

Soon enough, Arcee and Cliffjumper came in to get her. Terabyte was far too tired from the emotional stress of the rotation to even consider protesting the need for her to have an escort.

She couldn't help but notice how that, while Cliffjumper was laughing and chatting animatedly, Arcee was following behind, face unreadable, in a rather standoffish manner.

"Hello Tiny. Come along home." Cliffjumper greeted her cheerfully, not having, apparently, noticed Arcee's strange behavior.

Terabyte didn't even protest the nickname. She took a deep vent and followed behind at a respectful distance. After walking for a while, taking much longer than she thought necessary, the two Autobots in front of her seemed to forget she was there and Cliffjumper spoke to Arcee quietly.

"So, 'Cee. What's up? You've been kind of... distant since I got back."

"I haven't been-"

Cliffjumper cut her off gently, purposefully taking a wrong turn. The fact that the warrior femme didn't notice spoke volumes. Since Terabyte didn't have the right to interrupt, and she was still wary of bringing the two-wheeler's wrath down on herself, the spy remained silent and tried not to listen to the obviously private conversation. She wished the red mech had taken the right turn.

"Arcee... I'm not blind. I came back, and shortly afterwards you started drawing away. What's wrong, 'Cee? I want to help."

"Cliff'." Arcee said, her voice torn. "That's just it! You know me too well... I-I've already lost one partner to this war... I don't want- I thought if I..."

Terabyte knew exactly what the other femme was doing. She'd thought the same once. But she'd tried that, and it didn't work. All it did was make her lonely and make her think more about what was lost, with no comfort.

"You thought that if you shut me out, it wouldn't hurt so much." Cliffjumper finished softly. "That won't work, 'Cee... I won't let you do that to yourself, I've seen you like that. You're better than that."

Arcee stopped abruptly and fell into Cliffjumper's gentle, ready embrace. "I know, Cliff'..."

Unfortunately, Terabyte was so tired and lost in her own thoughts and memories that, oblivious to the world around her, the small navy and black femme just kept walking forward. Straight into the two Autobots lightly hugging in front of her.

She crashed into them, falling backwards to the floor with a loud clang of metal on concrete. Arcee took a step towards her, looking down at her with blazing optics. Terabyte looked back up at the angry femme with wide optics, her armor flaring just a little bit more.

"What are you doing here, 'Con?"

Cliffjumper put a restraining hand on her blue shoulder, but she ignored it.

Terabyte glared up at her escort and retorted, "_Supposedly_, I was being escorted to quarters, because I'm not trusted enough _to walk to my berth_ without a guard. Only my _guards_ decided to slowly stroll through every single corridor on this base _except_ the one leading to our quarters. And now, it would seem that what I'm doing here is getting yelled at for _existing_."

Cliffjumper glanced at the fuming femme next to him then at the indignant one at his feet spoke carefully. "Why didn't you just say something?"

"I'm a prisoner." She spat in reply. "I don't have the right to question my commanding officers' decisions."

An unreadable expression flashed across Arcee's faceplates and her frame relaxed. She thrust out one hand, with the intent of helping the smaller femme to her pedes.

Terabyte's tired processors mistook the motion for an attack and scrambled backwards on the floor, nearly extending her dagger before realizing she'd never re-positioned it to safely do so.

Knowing that her mission would be compromised if she fired on them, Terabyte shut her optics and braced herself against the wall she'd scooted up against. Arcee was unpredictable and had a much looser grip on her facade, the Autobot within her may very well slip past.

When a small hand, about the size of her own, gently landed on her upper arm, Terabyte slowly opened one optic to peek up at Arcee. Her expression, while not precisely friendly, didn't appear to be angry either.

Terabyte stood up quickly, brushing the dust from her armor hurriedly, trying to hide her embarrassment. Warily she watched Arcee as she stepped away from the wall.

"We're Autobots, kid. We don't cause pain without reason." Arcee said, not unkindly.

Terabyte couldn't restrain her dark mutter, though she was pretty sure they didn't hear, "And when you have a reason?"

She nearly burst out laughing at Cliffjumper, who had lagged behind Arcee just enough to whisper in her audial, "All Pit breaks loose. Trust a guy with experience."

_There was crashing and screaming all around her, the air filled with smoke and the bitter smell of burnt Energon. The tower was falling... falling. Her sire's grayed frame, still clutching the lifeless frame of her carrier, was speeding towards her. She raised her hands up to shield her faceplates and ran._

_Suddenly she looked around in confusion. Protihex was smoking, the explosions ceased. She kept running and tripped over Skywarp's helm. The red optics glowed brightly and the bent mouth curled into a twisted and deformed grin._

_"Hey kid." The decapitated helm looked like it had more to say, but she screamed and scrambled to her pedes, running from it as fast as she could._

_She ran and ran till she could run no further, yet somehow she had hardly moved. Skywarp's helm laughed at her. Something was coming towards her, the blue-tinted smoke curling around the limping, mangled figure._

_As it neared, she could just make out who it was. "Smokescreen? Smokescreen!"_

_She ran towards him, but stumbled to a halt when the surrounding smoke cleared. His helm was tilted at a strange angle and twitching to the side as the nerves glitched, half of his young faceplates torn completely off, leaving a hideous sparking array of circuitry. The large blue optic rattled loosely in his helm without the plating surrounding it. One of his arms was missing and his left leg was attached only by a few frayed wires. Where his spark chamber ought to have been there was only a gaping hole._

_Coolant ran down her face in rivers as she choked on her words and her grief. She howled as the mech-ling collapsed to the ground, his remaining hand reaching towards her. His piercing blue optics glared her accusingly._

_"You promised you'd find me. You said you'd come for me! You promised!" The little white mechling gasped for air, coughing up a mouthful of life-En. "You promis..."_

_She let out a spark wrenching keen as the optics went out and her brother's frame went still. "No! I'm trying! I never gave up, I haven't stopped searching! I'm still tryi-!"_

_She screamed again as hands gripped her shoulders and shook her roughly. Striking out with her non-existent weapons, she fought the large cobalt mech. Coolant still streaming down her faceplates, she screamed at the one who'd done this._

_Ultra Magnus continued to shake her. He opened his mouth and spoke... In Arcee's voice. "Terabyte! Wake up! It's just a nightmare, wake up!"_

**Half a groon earlier.**

Arcee came back from her patrol feeling much better. She'd gone out into the desert and just drove as fast as her engine could go. The wind rushing over her sleek form, the freedom, to listen to the wind roaring by and being able to feel like she was in control. Nothing to hold her back. It had felt good. She'd needed that.

She couldn't put a barrier between herself and Cliff', that hurt too much to do. But she could keep her stupid, reckless partner safe, Arcee had decided finally. Keep him out of trouble.

She had returned to base at much more reasonable pace, taking time to admire the beauty of the star-strewn sky and the peaceful calm of the cold Nevada desert. By now the pink and blue femme was exhausted and, already early in the second night cycle - something like 12:30 a.m. in human time - Arcee was well and truly ready for a good recharge.

She didn't bother turning on the lights in her quarters when she first walked in. Arcee simply laid herself down on her berth and powered down her optics for the night. Her systems were nearly all the way shut down when she heard a whimper from across the room.

"Should probably get up and find out what her problem is..." Arcee told herself quietly.

The recharging Decepticon whimpered again and let out a sleep-muffled scream.

Arcee opened her optics and got up slowly, making her way over to the door and flipping on the light. As she turned to look at the femme, Terabyte muttered in her sleep.

"Smoke. Screen? Sm...okescreen!"

The darkly colored femme was curled up into a tight ball near the head of her berth, her armor clamped down tightly and frame overheating and tangled in the blankets. Her mask was still up, but pink coolant was pooling on the edge of her mask and spilling over. Arcee reached out her hand to take away the blanket when suddenly the femme screamed in sheer spark-pain.

The raw pain in her voice pierced Arcee's spark. It was the pain of someone who'd just lost... everything. Total despair and utter hopelessness. She knew that feeling all too well. The pain of a broken spark with no hope of being fixed again.

Arcee sat down on the Decepticon's berth, pulling the hot and coolant stained blanket away from the femme's overheating frame. She laid a hand on the femme's shoulder, shaking the trembling femme gently. Terabyte moaned, whispering in her recharge.

"No!... trying... never gave up!...searching...trying!" The femme wailed.

Arcee grabbed both the femme's shoulders and shook her with a little more force, grunting as Terabyte swung her charged yellow dagger at her face, leaving a long jagged scrape from just below her optic down to her chin, severing the tip of the pink frame on her helm. It was thankfully only a shallow scrape, but it still stung like anything.

When the sleeping femme smacked her roughly upside the helm with her mini-cannon, screaming 'Magnus' however, Arcee lost her gentleness and practically shook the femme as hard as she could.

"Terabyte! Wake up! It's just a nightmare, wake up!" She growled.

Finally the crying, fighting Decepticon's golden optics flicked open at the same time the black mini-cannon charged up, the end of it shoved into Arcee's gut. Both femmes' vents were heaving as they tried to cool their frames. Terabyte stared at the life-En dripping down Arcee's face. She looked down at the cannon point pressed against her abdominal plating, then at the raised dagger with her life-En on it.

The femme's engine whined pitifully as she returned her gaze to Arcee's face.

Arcee smiled ruefully. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, you're fine; everything's fine. Okay?" Arcee pulled a polishing cloth out of her subspace and handed it to the defector. Her own distrust was shaken from what she'd been able to put together from the other femme's nightmare-induced wails. This femme, so young, had gone through more than she could ever truly understand.

Terabyte's golden optics never leaving Arcee's face, the femme reached forward cautiously and accepted the proffered cloth. "I will not be punished for harming you?" The femme asked her in a weak and disbelieving voice. Whatever her nightmare had been about, it was still troubling the young two-wheeler.

"No. I won't hurt you." Arcee snorted. "Although if you can fight that well in your recharge, I have no doubts that you can ably defend yourself."

"I won't should you change your mind though. My rank denies me that right, does it not?"

Arcee blinked. She would make no effort to defend herself? Even if she was attacked for no reason? "I-I guess so... I wouldn't know though," Arcee gave a tiny laugh. "Never actually read the rule book through..."

Terabyte's optics widened slightly, but with the mask, it was difficult to tell her expression. She glanced over at the cut on her face again and asked tentatively. "Do you want me to fix that for you? It is my fault after all."

"Faceplates are delicate..." Arcee said warily. "I'd prefer for a medic to do it..."

"I'm not a medic," Terabyte started slowly, "but I've been doing my own repairs for vorns now with much worse injuries."

Arcee analyzed the femme's tone and expression carefully before nodding her assent. The young femme sounded like it would make her feel much better, and Arcee was feeling tired and generous. As Terabyte gently and, admittedly, rather skillfully tended her scrape, curiosity overcame her and Arcee asked, "So... who's Smokescreen? Close friend?"

"Family." Terabyte answered softly. "He was- is like a brother to me."

"What happened to him?" Arcee asked, even though it was obvious the femme didn't like talking about it. From her experience, keeping it bottled up hurt more than letting it out.

"When I was a youngling, just upgraded to my second youngling frame that quartex - three frames away from adult, one more youngling, then two femmeling - not really all that long ago; only about a decavorn." She sighed lightly as she gently welded Arcee's faceplate. "That was when my home was destroyed. We were separated in the explosions."

Arcee frowned lightly before examining the femme's repair job. The weld was seamless, nearly invisible. In a rotation it would be healed completely. "Is he..." She trailed off, knowing how much it hurt to lose someone that close.

"Off? No. Smokescreen's not dead." The Decepticon said with firm conviction. "No, I can feel it in my spark, he's alive and out there somewhere. And I will find him."

Arcee almost missed the last, broken whisper.

"I promised..."

**A.N. Any constructive criticism, comments and possible suggestions you may have are very much welcomed and 'Oh so subtly' requested.**


	16. Makeshift Dealings

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 16**

**Makeshift Dealings**

_The pale blue cyberyllium-core data module glimmered in the sunlight as she examined it. It was hard to believe that something so tiny could be so important. With this little device in Decepticon hands, the Autobot forces would be crippled._

_Behind her, the Autobot base could still be seen near the horizon. They would discover what had happened soon, and then the pursuit would begin. She planned on being long gone by that time._

_She twirled it between her silver servos carefully. This data chip contained all of the Autobots' battle strategies, plans, and ideas; most importantly, it also contained all of the flaws in those plans. The Autobot tacticians would have to develop new plans and strategies and would be weakened until then. Tactical developments would also be much slower now that Prowl, their master tactician, had been terminated by Skyquake._

_Shadowlight walked up to her and peered over her shoulder at the chip. "Pretty, isn't it?"_

_She hummed in agreement and subspaced it before giving her orders. "We aren't home yet, femmes. Keep your guards up and stay sharp, the Autobots won't hesitate to kill us on sight. Darkshine, scout up ahead for enemy ambush. Stryka, watch our backs. Everyone else, stick to the middle and protect the intel at all costs. I want everyone one of us alive and well at the end of this rotation, got it? Move out!"_

_The small party dropped into formation and began the two-rotation trek back into Decepticon territory._

_It happened in the first night cycle at the end of the rotation. They had been running from the Autobot pursuit parties for the whole second day cycle, and the whole group was exhausted. Darkshine had a minor wound in her wing; she'd run into a small patrol and gotten hit before she could get away._

_Shadowlight had repaired the damage as best she could, but Darkshine still wouldn't be able to transform for an orn at least. _

_They all needed to rest and their Autobot pursuers were, while too close for comfort, not traveling specifically towards them, so she pulled her team into a cave for the night. She set sentries at the cave's mouth, to cycle every joor._

_Like any good commander, the small femme took first watch with a new mech named Quicksand. He was shy, with sandy armor and a big gun. As far she could tell, he was a tank, but she'd never seen him transform. Shy tank, go figure._

_She saw them in the third groon of her joor on guard duty. A group of about a dozen Autobots coming their way with purpose clear in the way they moved. They'd been discovered._

_Running inside, she kicked Stryka's helm roughly. It was the only way to get through the colossal front-liner's thick armor. That and it made a wonderfully loud clang, effectively waking most everyone from their recharge. The excessively well-armored femme's armor didn't even scuff, though her own foot now ached. The wall probably would have been softer..._

_"Everyone up, now! We've been found! Get moving!" Soon everyone was awake and drowsily getting up. All those who were properly awake were dragging the others to their pedes._

_Standing in the mouth of the cave, she ushered her team out of the cave, leaving Stryka in charge of maintaining order and getting them to a safe, defensible place. All that was left inside now was the jet twins and a blue and green mech that transformed into a helicopter._

_Darkshine was lagging and the Autobots had been firing into the entrance for several klicks. _

_"C'mon 'Shine! Hurry!" She yelled, providing as much cover fire as she could._

_"Just go without me. I'll only slow you down." The jet replied bravely, her wing plainly causing her far more discomfort than she'd previously let on._

_The other mech ran out to Stryka's group, where she, Quicksand, and a red and black jet were blasting the Autobot attackers. Or rather, ducking behind cover while the Autobots, who far outnumbered them, launched an endless stream of fire._

_"Shut up, Darkshine." She growled. "You are going to get out there and we are all going to make it home, even if it takes a quartex. No one dies today, that's an order!"_

_They were almost out when the Autobots' constant firing took its toll on the weak cave entrance. Darkshine screamed as the mouth of the cave collapsed and the black jet shoved Shadowlight out as the cave crumbled down on top of her._

_"Darkshine!" She and Shadowlight shouted. _

_The silver medic ran up to the rubble, where Darkshine could be clearly seen. She was buried up to her waist, and coolant streaked her streamlined faceplates. The two-wheeler glanced over her shoulder from where she was desperately trying to keep herself and her friends safe._

_"Just... Go! Go and save yourselves, save the mission, win the war... Just leave..." Darkshine said, her voice laced with pain and well hidden fear. She knew that Shadowlight could feel it in their twin bond. All spark split twins were mentally linked. She wasn't sure what would happen to Shadowlight if Darkshine died though…_

_"No! I'm not going to leave you. We'll dig you out, I can fix you, we're going to make it!" Shadowlight's black hands scrabbled at the rubble. Her silver wings were trembling._

_The spy winced as she took a hit to her dagger arm. Glancing back at the twins, she watched Darkshine grip Shadowlight's hand tightly, making optic contact for a moment before her dented black helm fell to the ground and the pale red optics dimmed. "Go..."_

_She continued blasting the Autobots, but she was losing ground. Six to one didn't give her very high hopes of victory. She ran a quick scan over Darkshine and her engine whined quietly, unheard by any. The femme was already fading. The black jet's spark pulse was weakening and the Autobots were moving forward._

_She recognized one huge shape. Optimus Prime himself stood on the hill, firing down on them. The data they'd stolen was vital; so vital that the Prime himself saw fit to pursue. Her black, gray, and Prussian blue armor shrank just a little closer to her frame._

_"Oh... Scrap." She muttered, trying to still her trembling finials enough to scan her surroundings. There was one gap in the enemy lines, just big enough for all eight of them. By her calculations, the gap would close before they could dig the black jet out. A single drop of coolant slid down her face as she made the hardest decision of her Decepticon career. _

_/Stryka! Take the team through the opening at coordinates 96 south by 173 east. I'll be right behind you with Shadowlight. Hold it open for us./ She commed urgently._

_/Yes ma'am. You have the device?/_

_/Affirmative./_

_Grabbing Shadowlight's arm, she tried to drag the femme to her pedes. "Shadow! We need to go, now! We have our objective, and the Prime is here."_

_The silver jet screamed, kicking her shin plates harshly. She gasped at the pain, but somehow stood her ground. "NO! I can save her!" Shadowlight yelled. "We can still save her!"_

_"No we can't, she's already fading. I will not lose both of you! We have to go. Shadow! She saved your life! Would you want her death to have been for nothing? We have to go." She somehow grappled the jet's arms behind her back, but Shadowlight kept kicking and screaming._

_"She doesn't have to die! We can still save her! Let me go!"_

_"By the time we got her unburied the Prime will have killed us all. Even if we survived getting her out, we'd never make it home alive. Then the whole mission would have been pointless!" She raised her cannon arm, glancing back at Darkshine's mostly grayed frame one last time. "I'm sorry, Shadow. I am so, so sorry. But there's no other choice. We're out of time!"_

_Knocking the silver medic unconscious with a blow to the helm with her mini-cannon, she managed to drag the jet to the gap in enemy lines. _

_Right before she'd made it to safety, the Prime, only meters away, gazed straight into her desperate optics, and for an astrosecond the spy locked optics with Optimus Prime. The memory was seared into her mind, and she somehow got the feeling that she would never forget that one moment of mutual agreement, mutual understanding._

_Spark and processor numb, she led her now seven-mech team back to Kaon. Oddly enough, they did not see a single Autobot patrol or pursuer for the remainder of the mission. Home free, but at so high a price._

Terabyte stayed curled up on her berth with her systems slowed down to near-recharge levels, but she couldn't sleep. After a nightmare like that? No, she couldn't risk the chance of going back there.

When Arcee's frame relaxed and her systems appeared to be fully shut down, the spy silently slid off her berth and through the door. Her pedes made no noise, the only sound made being the swish of air as the door opened then closed behind her.

She wanted to drive or train or even fight, anything to distract her from her troubled thoughts and the terrible image of Smokescreen's mutilated, sparking frame that plagued her processor. But she wasn't allowed to leave the base and doing so inside would wake the Autobots. Instead, she would have to find something else to take her mind off things.

Running one hand along the wall to steady herself in the dark, Terabyte made her way to the main chamber. It was early morning, dawn was still several groons away. Her dark-colored frame blended in to the shadows. As she entered the room, the small femme found that the lights were on in med-bay and two mechs were having a heated discussion in muted tones. Or more accurately, the smaller was yelling at the other while waving a wrench around, also hitting the larger mech with it.

"How… do that?... the right… know!... be able… trust… own Prime! … don't… How…"

Terabyte could only see the blurred silhouettes of the two mechs through the glazed glass walls of med-bay. She had pretty good idea however, that the angry one was Ratchet. He was fond of waving wrenches. The other one, judging by shape and posture was… the Prime? The Autobots dared to attack their _leader_?

"… could you let her join us if… knew… she is?!" Ratchet yelled. The med-bay walls muffled the words making it difficult to hear. "…_monster_ terminated…! Prowl is dead… her fault!"

"Old friend… calm…" The Prime said in a reasonable tone, making it too quiet for to hear any more than a word here and there.

She stood in the entry-way frozen as she watched the conversation play out. They were arguing about her. Had she somehow blown her cover without realizing it? Or did the Prime know who she was? Terabyte's worried thoughts bounced around her processor. How would this affect her mission?

"I confess…knew… her past… did not tell…" The Prime continued solemnly. He laid a hand on the medic's shoulder. "Perhaps… was wrong… I believe… best… Deserves… chance."

Ratchet's frame visibly relaxed as the medic accepted his leader's apology and explanation. Terabyte quietly continued on her path to the living area, hoping that she didn't look too suspicious. She was a few strides short of her destination when Ratchet and the Prime walked out of the med-bay.

"Terabyte." Optimus greeted her with a nod, his cobalt optics unreadable. "It is rather early… I did not expect to see you at this hour."

She dipped her helm and responded to the unspoken question. "My recharge was… disturbed. I thought to find a way to occupy myself until a more reasonable time of cycle. Perhaps I ought to have informed someone? I was not expecting anyone else to be awake either."

"May I ask what you were going to _occupy_ yourself with this time of night?" Ratchet asked suspiciously. "_Alone_?"

"Ratchet." Optimus rumbled, his voice holding an unspoken warning to both of them. "I am sure Terabyte meant no harm."

Terabyte nodded stiffly in response before the Prime continued. "Although, I too am curious; what did you intend on doing?"

She froze for a moment. "I- I am not entirely sure, Lo- Prime. I h-had not decided when I left my quarters… P-perhaps it would be best if I simply returned to my quarters for the night?"

Ratchet's engine growled lowly and his blue optics were narrowed slits. "I agree."

With another half-bow to both of them, Terabyte retreated back to her quarters as silently as she'd left. Curled up at the head of her berth, with her knees drawn to her chassis, arms wrapped tightly around them, she sat in the dark silence of the quarters she shared with Arcee.

Her little excursion, while meant to calm her thoughts and fears, only served to add more worries to her growing pile. She did not recharge again that night.

The Prussian blue and black femme followed Arcee to the mess room that morning. They shared Energon in silence.

Upon entering the main chamber, Arcee immediately went to Ratchet to examine the almost entirely healed scrape. The medic grumbled about poorly tended injuries, but in the end he didn't actually do anything to it, attesting to the quality of her work. He replaced the severed pink face frame and was done.

"Alright! Chores are done. _Now _can we do some dune-bashing?" Miko said. Terabyte turned to see Bulkhead walk in with Miko comfortably perched on the green mech's shoulder.

"I don't know Miko…" the mech replied. "Last time we went, I spent a _week_ picking the sand outta my articulators." Miko's shoulders sagged and her helm hung in disappointment. "But there's a monster truck rally in town."

Terabyte watched with amazement as Miko's expression swapped to excitement in the blink of an optic. Human frames were so flexible… along with their moods. One moment they're sad and saggy and the next they're strung tight with excitement. Her contemplations on squishies' quirks were interrupted by Ratchet, who was typing away at the terminal to her right.

"Optimus. I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band." The medic glanced over at the Prime, who had walked up behind him to look at the screen. Soon everyone at the base had gathered in a loose ring around the terminal. "It appears to be coming from a starship _inside _this solar system."

The spy's attention however, was not attracted to the center screen showing the signal, but rather to the two screens next to it. The screen to the left was uninteresting; stolen space bridge blueprints. That would explain how the Autobots had managed to destroy their bridge.

Glancing at the main screen, Terabyte frowned. "That's an Autobot identification signature…"

Jack walked up to the rail behind the terminal and asked excitedly, "So there are other 'Bots out there?"

Arcee nodded from where she stood a little bit behind Terabyte, with Cliffjumper next to her. "The masses scattered throughout the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark…" She scowled. "But, 'Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons."

Simultaneously everyone in the room turned to look at Terabyte. She shrank slightly under their collective gazes. "That's a real ID signature. I've baited such traps; every programmer has a slight signature on their beacon, invisible - to all but those with the proper skills - this one does not carry such a signature."

"Yeah, you'd know, wouldn't you 'Con? That's your specialty ain't it?" Bulkhead challenged. "Of course, if it were a trap, the Decepticon _would _tell us it's safe."

Terabyte looked around nervously, hoping to gain someone's support. Surprisingly, Bumblebee stepped between herself and the green mech. **"Lay off her, Bulkhead. She isn't one of them anymore."**

"She isn't exactly one of us either." Bulkhead countered, pointing to the spiked insignia on her belt-plate.

Thankfully, the Prime interrupted just then. "Unknown vessel, this is Autobot Outpost Omega One. Identify yourself."

A mech's voice answered dryly. "I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades."

She looked over at the screen to the right and her attention was instantly captured. It showed a map of the base as seen from aerial view. The writing on the screen however, was tiny. There was no way to read it without drawing attention to herself. She could tell from the image, that the base was in a desert, canyon-filled region. The Autobots had already told her that the base was an abandoned human missile silo… That narrowed it down to about a dozen possible locations in Arizona, Nevada, Africa, Egypt, or Australia.

Meanwhile Bulkhead lurched forward, nearly launching Miko off his shoulder in his eagerness. "Wheeljack? You old 'Con-crusher! What're you doing all the way out here?"

The navy and black spy tried not to cringe at the 'Con-crusher' part. She knew of Wheeljack: he'd been with the group of Wreckers that blew Protihex. His reputation was massive, he was said to have single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of Decepticons in a single battle. One of the Autobots' greatest war heroes.

Terabyte's silver hands clenched into tight fists and it took all her will power to maintain an outward appearance of calm. Her armor flared out a little more and her finials twitched irritatedly.

The mech's voice pattern showed up on the center screen as he spoke, the sound-waves spiking and dipping with his words. "Bulkhead? That's you? What's with all the security?"

"The rock we're on is _crawling_ with 'Cons…" Bulkhead answered. "How soon can get you get here and even the odds?"

The dark two-wheeler's lip-plates curled up in disgust behind her mask. The Autobots thought of them as pests, mere insects to be eradicated. Even the odds… Terabyte huffed lightly. Weren't the odds already in the Autobots' favor? Vehicons fell before them like leaves in the wind. Slaughtering her kind was child's play for them and they thought they needed _more_ troops?

"-metime tomorrow if I put my metal to the pedal." Wheeljack was saying.

Miko grinned at Bulkhead. "Another 'Bot's coming here… How cool is that?"

'_Yeah… really cool, kid. One of the mechs responsible for destroying Protihex and its people has come to Earth to finish what he started.' _Terabyte thought bitterly. _'And I can't even kill him because of this mission… Not publicly anyway…' _She looked up momentarily. _'Don't worry Carrier, Sire… I __**will**__ avenge our people.'_

"-ou verify his voice print?" Optimus finished the sentence Terabyte had missed.

Bulkhead looked up at Optimus and nodded firmly. "He's a thousand percent the real deal, Optimus."

The Prime turned back to the terminal to speak, not that Wheeljack could actually see him. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack. Safe journey."

Just before Ratchet closed the transmission, Bulkhead took a decisive step forward. "See you soon, buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome."

When the channel was closed and everyone was still gathered together, Arcee asked Bulkhead teasingly. "So who's the boyfriend?"

The green mech chuckled. "Me and Jackie go way back." He smashed his fists together with a crash. "We were part of the same war unit called the Wreckers. Which means the 'Cons are gonna wish he never found us."

Terabyte gasped quietly. Bulkhead was a Wrecker too. The urge to purge her tanks washed over her as it hit her. He'd seemed like a nice enough mech... She'd thought he was okay for an Autobot. Her optics narrowed.

She had been wrong.

Terabyte sat on the steps watching the children play a racing game on their console. They had let Raf play with them this time, having acquired a third remote, which made her feel a little bit better. She stared at the concrete floor between her feet, examining every nick, flaw, and scratch in the hard surface.

Her thoughts were dark and troubled as her various worries tumbled around in her processor. A Wrecker was coming to Earth. And a Wrecker had been here all along. Three Earth years and she'd never known. She'd have tried to off him by now if she'd known beforehand. The signs were all there; how had she not realized? It seemed all too obvious now that she knew. She ought to have known.

She had spent vorns trying to find those responsible for the loss of her home and family. But the universe is a big place... She'd only found two of the Wreckers in that time. One got away, but Dreadwing had fixed that. The other one she'd terminated at the Battle for the Three Moons. His name was Pyro; the Archives had firm eyewitness evidence that he had been among those who'd destroyed Protihex.

Terabyte had finally come to accept that Protihex was gone and after Cybertron went dark, she hadn't been able to find a trace of the Wreckers. The unit had disbanded and scattered; the likelihood of her coming across another _two_ was incredibly slim, but she would not miss this opportunity.

She may not be able to have her vengeance on all the Autobots, but the Wreckers would pay. Wrecker history would not soon forget the name...

"Terabyte!" She glanced up to see the red horned mech for a moment before returning her gaze to the concrete.

"Been looking all over for you." Cliffjumper said, sitting down on the stairs next to her. "Hey, you alright? You looked a bit... off back there."

She looked up into his mildly concerned faceplates. Her golden optics were blank, betraying little of her inner turmoil. It was a good thing her mask was up though, because her faceplates still held a look of disgust and anger. "I'm fine. Just, fine."

He cocked an optic ridge doubtfully. "Uh huh. You're sounding really fine. What's up?"

Terabyte sighed. "It's nothing really." She tried to sound a little more convincing. And probably failed miserably. "I just... know the mech that's coming. And he's a Wrecker."

"You have bad history with the Wreckers or something?" Cliffjumper asked curiously.

"Yeah. Could say that." She replied evasively, not feeling like talking about it to an Autobot. As if he'd care. They probably had the destruction of Protihex listed among their great victories.

The red mech looked down and they sat in a tense quiet for a while. Finally, Cliffjumper seemed to be unable to contain his curiosity any longer. "So… What'd they do?"

Her dark frame went stiff. Why did everyone always have to pry? Was it so hard to grasp that some things simply were best left untold? She let out a hot vent of air before answering moodily. "You've heard about the fall of Protihex?"

At his slow nod, Terabyte finished darkly. "I was there."

The Decepticon spy said very little after that. Cliffjumper asked a few more questions, but Terabyte was anything but forthcoming.

**The Next Rotation**

"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone." Arcee told Optimus from where she stood at the terminal. Ratchet was at the ground bridge controls, putting in the coordinates. The landing zone was in the middle of an uninhabited region of Australia.

Terabyte looked over at the kids, who had congregated on the walkway to discuss the approaching Autobot.

"You think he's here to visit?" Raf asked, hugging his ever present laptop to his chest.

Miko leapt up, "Maybe he'll stay!" She frowned suddenly and crossed her arms, tapping her lips with one finger. "Hmm… He'll have to find his own human though…"

The two-wheeler's engine growled lightly. "I'm pretty sure that _Wheeljack_ isn't all Bulkhead's got him cracked up to be."

"You're a Decepticon though. You wouldn't have got a chance to meet him except on a battle-field." Jack pointed out.

_'Oh yeah. The mech had a hand in slaughtering over two hundred thousand innocents. Mechs, femmes and sparklings alike. He's bound to be a great guy.' _Terabyte retorted mentally. Her armor flared out a bit, but she remained silent.

"Was. Terabyte _was_ a Decepticon." Raf corrected. "She's on our side now, remember?"

She smiled at the little boy. He was so young and trusting… If her mission was ever discovered, she didn't know if she'd be able to bear it. This little human mech that reminded her so much of her brother, trusted her. Terabyte could almost feel how betrayed the kid would feel if she was found out.

Terabyte clenched one fist determinedly. She'd hold her cover. Duty and Decepticon honor set aside, she'd hold her cover for this one little fleshy's sake. She'd hold on.

"Ground bridge cycling up…" Ratchet said, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced over to see the control box shut down in a flurry of sparks. With a swift kick to the base of the control box, Ratchet grumbled loudly. "Aargh! Scraplets!" He let out a deep sigh and looked at her and explained unnecessarily, "Equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation."

The medic turned back to the device with a wrench in hand. He must have had it in his subspace.

"So Wheeljack's going to land half-way around the world, and then we'll bridge him back here?" Jack asked the Prime. The kid seemed slightly doubtful of the efficiency of that. He had a decent point. And he'd just helped her narrow down where the base could be.

Optimus stepped up next to her and answered the human mech solemnly. Terabyte tried not to think about how much larger the Prime was compared to her. Normally such drastic size differences didn't bother her but the Prime… He had a very strong aura of authority and power that frightened her.

"We can't risk revealing to him the location of our base, just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship."

Moments later an alarm blared through the base and everyone rushed over to the terminal to see what it was about.

"Bogies." Arcee explained. "Closing fast on Wheeljack's position."

Bulkhead's engine growled. "Decepticon scum!"

Optimus laid a hand on Bulkhead's shoulder. "We will never obtain peace if such prejudices are maintained. We fight in this war with the goal of saving this planet and creating peace between Autobots and Decepticons."

With that rebuke, the Prime turned to his second. "Arcee, take Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Terabyte to assist Wheeljack."

The four chosen 'Bots went up to where the ground bridge portal would open and waited. After several klicks, Bulkhead turned around.

"Open the bridge, Ratchet!" The large green Wrecker smashed his fist into his wrecking ball impatiently. "We're missing all the action!"

The ground bridge opened in a swirl of greens and blues, and the team stepped forward.

"I'll prepare sick bay." Ratchet said resignedly.

Bulkhead laughed. "For who? The 'Cons? This is Wheeljack we're talkin' about."

With that, Bulkhead ran through the portal, the other three following close behind.

The first thing she recognized was that the place reeked of fresh spilt life-En and burning wires. Then she saw the last Vehicon still standing. A long, silver, Cybertanium blade was thrust upward through the mech's spark.

The red visor flickered briefly before the blade was torn from his frame and the lifeless husk fell face first into the ground.

Terabyte stared at the white mech. He had a red and green chevron pattern on his chest, other red and green accenting the rest of his frame. Blue life-En dripped off the end of his samurai-like swords. The crevices in the blades meant for draining the life-En were stained with its blue glow.

Next to her, Bulkhead laughed. "Heh. I taught 'im that."

_'Good on you.' _Terabyte thought, sickened. _'There's really a lot of fairness and honor in stabbing your enemy in the back.'_

Wheeljack swung his swords in a fancy arc before sliding them into their sheaths on his back. "You ever think I might need a _hand_ here?"

"What and spoil the show?" Bulkhead answered.

The small femme's jaw tightened until it clicked from the pressure. Her disgust only got stronger when Arcee pointed to a rising Vehicon.

"You missed one." She taunted.

Wheeljack didn't even turn his helm. Tucking his shotgun under his arm, he shot the Decepticon straight in the face, blowing the mech's helm off.

She thought that one's name had been called Voltage. He'd sometimes taken her her Energon when she forgot to go get it, usually when she was busy decoding a promising file. It was sometimes hard to tell though; the Vehicons did all look the same.

The Wrecker pulled down his battle mask and looked them over. "If this is all you've got, this place is in more trouble than I thought."

Terabyte frowned minutely at how the mech seemed to not even notice the enemy symbol on her chassis. Odd. She figured that he would try to kill her, or at least give some taunt or other regarding her prisoner status.

Bulkhead stared at him for several seconds before running up to the white Wrecker and hugging him tightly, completely lifting the mech off his pedes. He laughed long and loud. Arcee and Bumblebee gaped for a moment before smirking at the mechs.

"Jackie!" Bulkhead shouted as he shook the mech in the air.

Wheeljack glanced over at her with a look of awkward disgust. In that moment, Terabyte realized who the mech really was. He broke optic contact with her and laughed at the green mech still hugging him.

"Watch the finish, you big wrecking ball." She noted the light undertone of true annoyance buried under the fond teasing.

She glanced at Arcee and Bumblebee before tentatively opening her special mentor/apprentice bond. She grinned as she instantly sensed her mentor's proximity. She'd only been off the Nemesis for just under a quartex; but it would be good to see him again. Even if he was wearing the face of an enemy. Terabyte brushed away the tiny doubts in her spark… He didn't need to have killed those mechs…

The five mechs ran back through the bridge, with Terabyte last through. She was just barely through when the portal closed with a loud crackling and a brilliant array of sparks as the bridge shorted out.

"Jackie, come 'ere." Bulkhead said, gesturing to Miko, who was just coming down the stairs. Terabyte watched as 'Wheeljack' followed Bulkhead over to see the girl. "Meet my other best buddy, Miko! She can wreck with the best of us."

Miko waved at the newcomer casually. "Hiya."

The white Wrecker crouched down. "You keepin' Bulkhead outta trouble?"

Miko grinned and shrugged, her pink highlighted hair bouncing. "I try... but trouble finds us anyway."

'Wheeljack' looked up at Bulkhead and smirked. "We're gonna get along just fine."

Hearing the heavy pede-falls of the Prime, everyone in the room turned around. Wheeljack spoke up. "Optimus Prime. It's a privilege."

"Likewise, soldier." The Prime replied. "What have you to report from your long journey?"

Wheeljack shrugged nonchalantly. "Been bouncin' around from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe." He looked around and locked optics with Terabyte for a moment. "Here, I find both."

"Our numbers are few, but strong." Optimus said solemnly. "We have suffered losses, but we have grown." As he said so he looked around at Terabyte and the humans. "And we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold."

"I would be honored." The mech answered. No one noticed the light stress on 'would'. He finished through their bond. _"But I'm too busy trying not to purge."_

Terabyte stifled a laugh. _"Good to see you again, Boss."_

Bulkhead grinned. "Then let's get this party started!" As he spoke, the mech laughed and smacked Wheeljack on the back, making him stumble forward several feet.

Her mentor regained his balance for a moment before turning around and slamming his chest into Bulkhead's with a loud clang of metal. "Hu-yah!"

Terabyte just barely caught Ratchet's sarcastic muttering. "Oh... Joy."

The dainty silver lip-plates curled up into a smile behind her Prussian blue mask. The odds really had been evened out by 'Wheeljack's' appearance. Only it was the Autobots that would be wishing he'd never found them, not the Decepticons.

_'You better watch out, Autobots.' _Terabyte thought happily. _'Makeshift is back in the game.'_


	17. Divisions

****Duty and Deceit****

****Chapter 17****

****Divisions****

__She walked into Soundwave's office with her shoulders slumped. She'd left Darkshine for dead. She was certain at the time that there was no other way, but now that she was out of the heat of battle, she couldn't help but doubt her decision.__

__What if there had been a better solution? Could she have saved Darkshine? Who was she to order one of her best friend's death? Surely there was something she could have done? Maybe they'd have been able to get her out before she was gone...__

__Many such second guessing doubts fluttered through her processor as her spark ached like a wound. Her report was short and its quality had been half as good as her usual. She couldn't be a leader; not if this was what it was like. She couldn't bear to be responsible for the sparks of all those below her. Her spark felt like a hard brick in her chassis, stiff with hurt and uncertainty.__

__Finally her jaw tightened as she was filled with determination. She would avenge her city, but becoming a war-leader was not the way she was going to accomplish that. What good did vengeance do if she destroyed her new home and life to obtain it? Then she'd only have lost two families.__

__Facing her commander where he sat calmly at his desk, she placed her request. "Commander Soundwave, sir. In this mission, I have proven that I have not the leadership skills necessary to effectively perform my duty, thus for the good of the cause, I request that I be permanently removed from active leadership duty. Sir."__

__Soundwave cocked his purple helm and held up the valuable micro-chip she'd obtained. Her optics hardened at her commander's obvious disagreement with her evaluation and suggestion.__

_"___Sir. With all due respect, are not the lives of our army more important than a single cyberyllium data chip? If I'm unable to bring back all of the mechs serving under my leadership, I have failed as a leader. The Decepticon cause is still small in number; I do not wish to be the one responsible for decreasing that number further as a result of my poor leadership. Sir." If Soundwave would not understand duty, perhaps the statistics would prove more fruitful.__

__Her commander spoke through a recording of Optimus Prime. "The burden of leadership weighs heavy on one's spark…"__

__She looked at the floor. He knew. Soundwave generally noticed what others would overlook. An image of the commanders' roster appeared on his visor and then a dark blue line was drawn through her name. Next, he brought up an image of the field duty roster. He made no changes to it and nodded. With a subtle twitch of his hand, Soundwave indicated that she was dismissed.__

__With a nod, the dark two-wheeler left the room, understanding his message clearly. She would not lead, but she was still expected to go on field whenever Soundwave deemed fit.__

* * *

**_**Two Joors Later**_**

__She watched Shadowlight carefully as she walked into the med-bay. The silver jet was hugging her knees to her chest-plates and rocking back and forth where she sat in the far corner of the room. Her friend's silver wings were trembling and a low keen was coming from the jet's engine.__

__Not sure how she would be welcomed – if it were her, she'd be ready to kill the one responsible on sight, friend or not – the black and navy femme stepped in cautiously. Shadowlight needed some time alone, but she had needed to get a special ointment for her elbow joint where one of the Autobots had shot her. Her own med-kit hadn't had it, and pain-killers could only help for so long before repairs needed to be done.__

__The spy knew instantly when her presence had been discovered, for the silver jet's tears ceased and Shadowlight stood up and stormed straight for her.__

_"___She's dead now. I felt her go." Shadowlight said quietly, her voice dangerous and her armor flared in rage. The jet took a few more menacing steps toward her as she spoke. "Darkshine's spark went out while you were reporting our 'victory'."__

__Instinctively, she stepped back until her dorsal plates hit the cold wall. She didn't want to fight her friend. She whispered painfully, "There was no other way…"__

_"___Oh, I get it. 'There was no other way'. Is that the best __**_**excuse**_******__you could come up with? My twin is __**_**dead**_****_. _**__And it's your fault. You gave the order that killed Darkshine."__

__Her small engine whimpered as the jet drew nearer. She looked around for a place to run, but the only door had closed behind her. "Shadow… What else could I have done?" She asked almost desperately, her own spark already plaguing her with guilt and doubts. "What would you have done in my place?"__

__Shadowlight raised her medical-grade saw over her helm as the space between them disappeared. She yelled. "__**_**I**_******__would have saved her! Even if it meant the failure of the stupid mission! Isn't the life of your friends more important than a useless scrap of cyberyllium? Are a few pathetic kiloquads of data more important than Darkshine's spark? NO! __**_**I**_******__would have saved her!"__

__Something inside the little Prussian blue femme snapped and her temper broke loose. "You think I __**_**wanted**_******__this?!" She roared, shoving the turning saw blades away from her. "You think that decision was __**_**easy**_**__? She was my friend! We've known each other for vorns__**_. _**__If you think you're the only one feeling the pain of her death, then you are a fool Shadowlight. Maybe if you weren't being so selfish you'd see that you're not the only one with a broken spark."__

__Shadowlight screamed in fury and lunged at her with twin saws drawn and spinning at full-speed. The spy howled as her cannon was sliced off along with half of the armor under it. Shadowlight yelled at her, coolant streaming down her silver, streamlined faceplates. "What do __**_**you**_******__know of spark-break?! We were twins. Darkshine and I __**_**shared one spark**_**__! Half of my spark has literally __**_**died**_****_, _**__it's your fault, and you dare to presume that you understand my loss?!"__

__The spy's armor went slack and her spark went still for a moment. There was no good reply to that. Even if there were, Shadowlight wouldn't hear it. And the jet wouldn't stop until someone paid for her twin's death. Her engine whined again as she dodged the deadly saw blades. She screamed, and heard Skyquake and a few others outside the med-bay.__

__They were trying to get in to her, but Shadowlight had smashed the automatic door controls on her way towards the two-wheeler. The only way in was to break the thick Cybertonium doors.__

__Shadowlight swiped at her left knee joint, knocking her to the floor. Both of her arms were now too weak to be useful. She was helpless. She raised her silver hands in a vain attempt to protect herself as the spinning saws bore down on her face.__

_"___For Darkshine." The silver jet whispered fiercely. The left saw swung towards her helm, the motion almost identical to that used by most medics in amputations. Her best friend was now using her knowledge of healing to try to kill her.__

__She screamed again as the blade touched her navy battle mask, shredding through it and into her face-plates underneath. Suddenly the doors burst open and Shadowlight turned to see what had happened, saws still spinning. The movement jerked the blade to the side, making the wound jagged.__

__Skyquake burst into the room with two troopers at his side. Shadowlight dragged the saw away from her face and turned to face the ones responsible for the interruption. The silver jet leapt at Skyquake, maddened by her grief and fury.__

__The spy's optics were flickering through the pain in her numerous wounds, both from the recent battle and from Shadowlight's raging attack, and she gently raised one hand to her face-plates. The battle mask was bent and mangled, digging into her face and exacerbating the relatively small scrape.__

__She stayed online just long enough to see Shadowlight restrained and Skyquake rush up to kneel in front of her. She felt him gently lift her up in his arms and locked optics with him for a moment. His wonderfully ruby red optics were filled with worry… It was such a nice color of red…__

__Her golden optics flickered one last time before the small femme slipped into nothingness.__

* * *

Terabyte watched as Bulkhead threw the large scrap-metal ball back to her mentor. "C'mon, Jackie! Show me what'cha got!"

Catching it with a grunt, Makeshift lobbed it back at the Wrecker, speaking into their bond as he did so. __"So this was your big away mission, eh?"__

__"Yeah, deep cover infiltration. No Shift, I just thought I'd come get cozy with the enemy for a while; the hospitality in their prison is lovely."__She answered sarcastically, still mostly just basking in the feel of her mentor's presence.

__"Deep cover... I thought the Wave cut you off of field duty."__

That was Makeshift's name for Soundwave. The Wave. Makeshift was loyal as anything, but he never was the most respectful of soldiers. He had a nickname for almost all the higher ups.

__"Officially, yes, but apparently that has changed..." __She frowned. __"Soundwave didn't tell you where I'd gone? I figured you'd count as a higher up..."__

"Nice lob!" Bulkhead praised as he threw the ball back.

Terabyte looked over at Miko, who had changed the music she was playing. She still really didn't care for human music, but knowing what to expect helped a bit. Raf had gotten up and was dancing with stiff, unnatural motions. Bumblebee was mirroring the boy. She smiled fondly at the small boy as she watched.

__"Be careful, Byte..."__Makeshift warned her as he continued the game of Lobbing. __"Don't allow yourself to grow too fond of these people, not even the kids. Everyone here is the enemy, remember that."__

__"I know..."__She sighed heavily_.___ "I guess the Autobots' masquerading as decent mechs is beginning to wear on my defences."__

Makeshift laughed out loud, making Bulkhead laugh as well, probably thinking 'Wheeljack' was having a good time. She could feel his boredom with the game through the bond though.__"You getting the warm and fuzzies?"__

Terabyte laughed where she was lying against the wall, still watching Raf and Miko. She was about to answer when she glanced over at her mentor... Just in time to see the scrap-metal ball fly high. Makeshift, focusing a little too much on their conversation, jumped too late and missed.

The ball hit the wall behind him with a loud thunk and bounced off, leaving a massive dent in the wall. It landed dangerously close to where Ratchet was working on the ground bridge console.

Ratchet stood up and pointed at the terminal angrily. "You know, I am __attempting__to perform __sensitive__calibrations here!"

Terabyte listened to their interactions discreetly. Makeshift looked at the medic for a moment before picking up the ball. "Sorry, Doc. Guess we're a little charged up."

Her mentor walked past Ratchet before asking casually. "Built this bridge from scratch, huh?"

Ratchet glanced at the white Wrecker suspiciously. "I did."

__"The Autobots are on alert, Shift... Watch your co-"__

Just then, Raf ran over to her and looked up eagerly. "Wanna come join us? Please? I'd really like to see some Cybertronian dancing..."

Completely losing track of Makeshift's actions, Terabyte cocked her helm at the little boy. "I think I'll pass."

"Aww... Not even just one?" He begged, pressing one hand on her black knee guard the way he did with Bumblebee. "You've got to be at least a little bit lonely over here by yourself."

Not exactly able to tell him that she wasn't lonely since Makeshift was here, Terabyte frowned thoughtfully. She also was having a hard time resisting the big pleading eyes gazing up at her.

"I would... but I can't dance." She snorted. "I kind of failed that class. Took mathematics and tech instead."

"Oh. That's okay, c'mon! You can follow me and Bee!" Raf said as a compromise. Pulling lightly on her diamond shaped knee plate, the small fleshy led her to the center of the room.

As she followed the kid, Terabyte heard Makeshift grumbling through the bond. __"...lying Autobot medic! 'Can't disrupt the defrag process' 'a few hours if we're lucky' my aft! Am I supposed to be too dumb to understand basic ground bridge functions?"__

Shaking her helm with a knowing smile, Terabyte closed out her ranting mentor.

* * *

****Almost Two Hours Later****

Terabyte watched the green Wrecker with flat optics and stifled a yawn, not wanting to accidentally drop one of the two humans sitting on her knees. She herself was sitting on the floor.

"So there we were," Bulkhead said holding up his hands. "No communications, low on Energon, surrounded with 'Cons..." He paused dramatically and Terabyte returned her attention to Makeshift, who was leaning against a stack of boxes, boredom rolling off him through the bond.

Mentor bonds were, while nowhere near the depth of twin bonds, still not very common – especially since the war began and trust became harder to win.

__"So how's the sleeper? You know, whatsisname; Earthquake? Skybreak?"__

Scowling slightly, Terabyte sighed. She knew he only pretended not to remember the jet, just because he enjoyed annoying her.__"Skyquake. He took serious damage, but the Autobot medic fixed him, said he'll recover. I'm not sure why they saved him..."__

All she got in reply was a mental shrug.__"Dunno what goes through their helms when they do stuff. You been practicing your Shifting still? Have you managed to do it yet?"__

__"No... Soundwave deleted the artificial Shifter coding right before the mission. He said that after all the vorns of practice yielding no progress, the progra-"__

"Tell 'em, Jackie!" Bulkhead said with a laugh. Terabyte shot a worried glance at her mentor, somehow having managed not to jump at the abrupt change in Bulkhead's tone. She'd completely missed everything being said outside her helm; hopefully he'd been paying better attention?

He looked at the eager kids nervously before scrambling together a lame, "Well, uh... what I do best!" He winked and gave Miko a thumbs up to help alleviate some of the lameness of his reply.

__"Scrap. No more chatting Byte. My cover can't afford any more screw-ups."__

Bulkhead laughed. He seemed a little surprised by 'Wheeljack's' evasive answer but continued. "Heh heh, he chucks his only grenade... straight into the primary heating system!"

Wheeljack smirked and he raised one hand modestly. "Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"The joint went _supernova_!" The Wrecker spread his arms wide to make his point.

Miko shifted on Terabyte's knee-guard. "Awesome!"

"Yeah..." Bulkhead said reminiscing. "I'm still picking shrapnel outta my backside."

From the other side of the room where she stood with Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, Arcee commented in a casually snarky tone, one hand on her hip. "I'm not surprised. Given the __size__of your backside."

Terabyte grinned and shook with silent mirth, jiggling the kids perched on her pedes. Bumblebee's clicking laughter filled the room.

"Ooh... " Cliffjumper snickered. "Ouch."

Makeshift was smiling along with everyone else but cast a glance in Terabyte's direction. __"We're both losing our cover, femme-ling. Losing cover."__

__"I'm not losing my cover..." __Terabyte argued, her mood instantly sobered.__"This was my mission; get in, gain trust, gain intel. They don't suspect a thing."__

__"No, but the Decepticons are losing you."__

Her dark frame went stiff as she realized what her own mentor, the mech who was like a sire to her, was accusing her of. Treason. Becoming Autobot.__"My loyalty to the Decepticons is as firm as ever! Shift! Why- how could you even-?"__

Bulkhead waved one hand in front of 'Wheeljack's' face. "Hey, you alright?" He asked suspiciously. "You don't seem like yourself."

Makeshift's armor went tight for a moment before he got up casually. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well you seem...quiet." Bulkhead said, frowning.

Makeshift laughed. "Aww. 'Been stuck in a can too long." He leaned forward slightly, "I should go topside, before I go stir crazy."

"I have patrol in the morning." The giant green mech suggested. "You could come with!"

"Let's go now." Her mentor replied, turning towards the bridge as he spoke.

Bulkhead shook his helm. "And break up the party? C'mon!" He begged, gesturing to the kids excitedly. "The gang's lovin' you! You gotta tell 'em 'bout Darkmount Pass."

'Wheeljack' shook his helm. "Nah, you tell 'em... you're better at it." He looked at Miko and his sky blue optics narrowed. "Now how 'bout 'Miko' here, show me the rest of your base?"

"Uh... yeah! Sure Jackie..." Bulkhead stammered, confused by the quick subject change and his friend's lack of interest in the tale. "Miko, why don't you go ahead?"

Leaping off Terabyte's knee, Miko clapped her hands eagerly. "Tour starts now!" Walking up to Makeshift the girl started spewing questions in rapid succession. "Do you play any instruments? Can you fly? Have you __really__crashed more 'Cons than Bulkhead?"

She watched the two of them leave and already she could feel the bond dimming, even though the distance was very little. __"Don't hurt the fleshy, Shift. She is still an innocent."__

__"I wouldn't dream of it, femme-ling."__

Terabyte frowned at what sounded like sarcasm in her mentor's tone. The image of the offlined Vehicons lying on the desert floor floated to the surface of her thoughts and she remembered the sickened feeling in her gut as she recalled the ease with which Makeshift had killed Voltage and the others before she'd recognized him.

She shook her helm as if to shake the doubts aside. Surely he only killed them to enforce his story. But was it really necessary? The Decepticons surely hadn't degraded that far. No. She would not doubt her mentor's loyalty or the rightness of her cause.

The Decepticons may have a few faults, but anything was better than the Autobots. The Cons didn't destroy her home.

"-n't tell me you're jealous?" Arcee said incredulously, thin hands on her hips.

Bulkhead stepped back and waved a hand at the door Miko and Makeshift had just disappeared through. "That Miko's making a new friend? C'mon..." The mech frowned. "Somethin's...Something's just not right about Wheeljack."

__'Oh, mech. If only you knew."__She thought quietly, standing up now that Raf had got off her other pede.

Arcee cocked an optic ridge, her almost indigo optics challenging. "Bulkhead, really? He's travelled galaxies, you haven't seen him for centuries! He could just be rocket-lagged, or..." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the Wrecker. "Well, bots change, you know?"

Bulkhead turned away stubbornly. "Not Jackie."

Terabyte stared at her pedes as she listened to them talk. She muttered quietly. "Everyone changes. Values rust, promises are forgotten, and sparks turn with the times. That's life, it happens to everyone eventually."

That must be all that's wrong with Makeshift, she concluded to herself. Things have gotten rough with Starscream in command and it's just got to him. Once Soundwave finds Lord Megatron, Shift'll be back to normal. Being around Starscream constantly was enough to make anyone a bit more violent.

Bulkhead shook his helm and repeatedly more firmly. "Not Jackie. Jackie never changes."

Cliffjumper looked at him flatly. "I get that Wheeljack's your buddy and all, but c'mon, no one's perfect. Terabyte's right, everyone changes eventually."

"Look." Bulkhead said, glaring at them with a dangerous tone. "I know Wheeljack better than anybody. And _that_ ain't my Jackie."

Terabyte's helm jerked up. The bond was starting to return. "He's coming."

"How do you-?" Arcee started suspiciously. She didn't get to finish.

'Wheeljack' walked in. "What're you guys... talkin' about?"

Terabyte looked at him. Miko wasn't with him. __"Where is the kid? You __**_**were**_**__-"__

__"Relax. Kid's fine, she's right behind me." __Makeshift interrupted, annoyed. _"___Little brat didn't shut her fleshy trap the whole time."__

Bulkhead straightened awkwardly. "I was just tellin' the guys all about you and me... and the Battle of Darkmount Pass." He finished with a challenging edge to his voice.

"That was definitely one of our more exciting stories." Makeshift muttered. __"He suspects doesn't he?"__

She nodded to both of her mentor's statements. "Lot of mechs died in that battle." She finished too quietly for any to hear, "Not that you'd care... only 'Decepticon scum' died that day."

"Yep." Bulkhead took a menacing step towards Makeshift. "Tell 'em!"

Miko walked in just then, oblivious to the tension in the air. Jack and Raf were still standing next to Cliffjumper. The pink haired girl yawned and stretched. "Talk, talk, talk. How 'bout __after__we go off-roading?"

Bulkhead looked down at her, voice firm. "Miko. Stay outta this."

Arcee stepped in front of Wheeljack, one silver hand raised placatingly. "Bulkhead... easy!"

Makeshift looked around nervously at the group of Autobots. __"Little help here? My cover's crumbling!"__

Out loud the mech said, "I'm not sure I-"

Bulkhead, ignoring everyone, took another step forward, one hand balled into a fist and raised slightly. His engine growled loudly. "Tell it!"

__"Shift, your cover isn't crumbling; it's blown, just get out of here. If I help you, I'll blow my cover too. Then both our missions would be classified as official failures. You know what happens to mechs accused of blowing another agent's mission; we'd both be demoted to the bottom of the ranks!"__

__"I'm gonna try a salvage."__Makeshift answered, his chin raised stubbornly. "Wanna live in the __past__, Bulkhead?"

Terabyte looked around worriedly, noticing the kids looking up at them with expressions matching her own – if they could see hers, anyway. __"You can't salvage this! Your cover's blown, mission failed; just get out. While you still can."__

__"Shut it, Byte." __Makeshift snapped. __"I'm __**_**your**_******__mentor, remember? Not the other way around. I know what I'm doing."__

"The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and a smelting pit." He paused for storytelling effect, before clenching his fists up in front of his red and green chevroned chest. "'Cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had."

'Wheeljack' glanced over at Bulkhead. "Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left 'em for scrap." He raised his hands and made steps in the air. "An' I made a way for us to get out, usin' their __backsides__as steppin' stones."

He looked smugly over at the olive green Wrecker. "That how it happened?"

Bulkhead nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Yeah... That's exactly how it happened." His countenance and voice darkened suddenly just as Makeshift visibly relaxed. "Except one little thing..."

The white mech went stiff and his sky blue optics went wide. __"What did I miss? That's what the record said happened!"__

_"___Records can be wrong, Shift."__

"__I__wasn't there!" Bulkhead finished dangerously. At that statement, all optics turned to rest on Makeshift. "I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus."

The green mech stalked forward even closer, jamming one large servo into Makeshift's chest. "But you wouldn't know that if all you'd done was read Wheeljack's public service records."

Miko spoke up confused. "Bulkhead, what does that have to do with- Whaaaa!"

The human femme screeched as Makeshift snatched her up in one hand. He backed away from them with his hostage and shoving Cliffjumper to the floor, ran towards the ground bridge opening.

"Miko!" Bulkhead yelled, shocking Terabyte with the depth of his concern.

__"Makeshift! What on Cybertron are you doing? Put the human down, she's not a part of our war. We fight to protect the innocent from the Autobot menace! Acting just like them will accomplish nothing."__

"Stay back, all of you, or I'll squeeze her into pulp!" Makeshift growled, using his own voice now. To demonstrate, he tightened his grip, making Miko cry out and struggle harder. __"The only way to protect the innocent is to rule over them. We can only rule through fear. War is full of collateral damage. This yappy little squishy is no more than collateral damage that will win us the war."__

Turning to Ratchet, who was finishing the repairs on the bridge before any of this happened, Makeshift rattled Miko in his fist threateningly. She yelped and pummeled his hand with her fists uselessly. Apparently he'd commed the desired coordinates to the medic.

Ratchet nodded and started setting coordinates into the ground bridge control terminal.

"Wheeljack! What're you doing?" Miko yelled, her voice sounding somewhat choked and strained.

__"This is __**_not _**__the Decepticon way! I fought to avenge the victims that the Autobots consider 'collateral damage'. The Autobots think that way, that's why Cybertron is now dark! How will copying their actions help us?" __She asked her mentor desperately. __"What good is worldwide peace if it's only because of the worldwide terror that brought it?"__

__"You always were too soft towards casualties. You never could make the hard decisions, no matter how hard I tried to make you. Protihex will never be properly avenged, because you're too soft to do what's necessary."__

__"And you were always just a little bit too Autobot. Quick to kill, slow to leave the battlefield, and never merciful. ____**Please**____ Shift, just put her down and go."__

__"I don't think __**_you _**__ever learned what it really means to be a Decepticon. Consider your apprenticeship over. I won't be responsible for a weakling."__

She barely heard Bulkhead's shout of, "Decepticon coward! Let the girl go and face me!"

Her mentor didn't respond to her pleas, even going so far as to shut her out of the link. Permanently. Terabyte doubled over as the physical and mental pain filled her spark, the terrible spark wrenching pain of a broken bond. She groaned, her servos scratching wildly at her chassis where her spark chamber lay.

Kneeling on the floor, she barely noticed Bumblebee next to her, watching her with concern. One of the young scout's hands was rubbing her upper back soothingly. He had no idea what was wrong with her, but still was trying to help. Strangely nice for an Autobot; too nice. All part of the ever-present masquerade, she supposed.

Makeshift grinned at the Autobot Wrecker savagely. "Don't fret, plenty of fighting to come!"

Jack looked up at her with confusion drawn all over his squishy face. At this point, he probably didn't have a clue what was going on; Autobot friend turned out to be a Decepticon, defector randomly keels over in pain from invisible injuries... no wonder he was confused. "Is there a __real__Wheeljack?!"

Makeshift answered his desperate question with a dark laugh. "Oh indeed. And I expect Lord Starscream is making short work of him."

Terabyte shakily raised her mini-cannon to her mentor's chest, the golden glow of her cannon indicating that the weapon was primed and ready. Ratchet finished setting the coordinates and the bridge began charging up.

Bumblebee put his other hand on her arm and pulled her aim off her mentor. ****"Don't shoot! You might hit Miko."****

Despite the fact that she figured she was a good enough shot to fire safely, the mini-bot let her cannon power down. There was no way she could shoot her own mentor, not even for the human. Not even after being so painfully rejected.

"Makeshift!" She gasped. "Don't-"

He waved his gun at her threateningly. "Quiet, traitor!" The ground bridge portal swirled to life behind him and he grinned. "'Bout time!"

The white mech backed up to the portal and spread his arms wide, shaking Miko in the process. Her struggling had diminished considerably. "'Let's get this party started'!"

Suddenly a white, green, and red mech came through the portal foot first, kicking Makeshift in the back and sending him through the air to land in a crumpled heap against the wall.

Somehow, miraculously, Miko was thrown from Makeshift's grip to land safely in Bulkhead's hand. Terabyte noticed with a start that the green Wrecker's sky blue optics were relieved as he very gently set the girl down before getting up to look at the real Wheeljack.

The mech was crouched down with his gray battle mask raised. Nodding to the kids, who'd gathered around Miko to see if she was okay, Wheeljack lowered his mask and gestured behind him. "I'd shut that portal before the stink comes through."

Ratchet closed the bridge as Makeshift stood up and approached. Both Wheeljacks drew their twin samurai swords and began circling each other with masks raised.

Terabyte stayed knelt on the concrete, hugging herself. Her mind felt strangely empty now. She'd gotten used to Makeshift's mental presence, even if only for a few hours. Even when she couldn't sense him, the bond had always been there. But now... it was gone.

"Don't kill him!" Her shocked processors were numb from the pain of her severed link. At this point, she wasn't even sure which of them she was talking to.

Bulkhead slammed his fists together and moved to attack Makeshift. Wheeljack raised one sword point up to block him. "Ugly's mine."

Moments later they both lunged forward, swords connecting with a crash. They each blocked and parried, ducking and lunging. Neither one was getting the upper hand. In the flurry, Terabyte lost track of which one was who. Her engine whimpered as the ache in her spark doubled at the reminder that she could no longer feel him.

Raf adjusted his red square glasses and asked quietly. "Which one's the __real__Wheeljack?"

Bumblebee shrugged next to her and she ignored him, her golden optics still wide with shock and hurt. Miko raised her finger, which wavered between the two Wheeljacks as she hummed indecisively.

"Aargh!" The girl finally groaned, clasping her hands over her face in agitation. "I lost track!"

Makeshift slammed one of Wheeljack's swords from his hand and it landed out of reach. Wheeljack retaliated, knocked one of Makeshift's blades away where it landed in front of Terabyte and morphed back into the black Cybertonium, jagged-edged scimitar. Wheeljack snatched the other sword from Makeshift and knocked him to the floor, putting his own blade to Makeshift's throat and a foot on his chest.

"That's my Jackie." Bulkhead said proudly.

Wheeljack picked up his other sword, dropping Makeshift's carelessly, and sheathed both of them behind his back. He turned to Ratchet. "You. Hit the switch." He glared down at Makeshift, before looking at Bulkhead. "S'time to take out the trash. All yours buddy."

As the portal opened, Makeshift rolled his helm over to look at her weakly. "Terabyte... you can't let them-"

"I won't be responsible for a weakling." The Prussian blue and black femme quoted her ex-mentor quietly, coolant threatening to roll from her optics. Holding the tears back and clenching her jaw, her tone turned bitter as she continued to throw his own words back at him. "War is full of collateral damage."

Bulkhead lifted Makeshift over his helm and carried him to the bridge, subtly activating the grenade on her ex-mentor's hip before spinning the mech around three times and flinging him through the ground bridge head first. The real Wheeljack grinned as the portal closed.

"Nice lob."

* * *

The kids pulled out the sound system and started celebrating the real Wheeljack's arrival and the day's victory. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee joined in the dancing while Arcee stood by and watched them with a fond smirk on her thin features.

Terabyte didn't feel much like celebrating though. She sat down beside Skyquake in the med-bay for a while, but the jet was out cold. Finally she'd settled on sitting down on the stairs. That had sort of become her little brooding spot. It was nice. Out of the way.

This time however, the small spy wasn't really contemplating much of anything. Her golden optics stared blankly at the things going on around her, not really seeing any of it. Her finials were drooping slightly backwards, similar to a peeved cat. She slowly turned the blackish purple blade of Makeshift's sword over in her hands.

After a while, all but Prime, Ratchet, and herself left to see the white Wrecker off. Apparently he'd decided not to stay.

Terabyte didn't move from her spot. No one really noticed her sitting there, which was fine by her. They'd probably want her to talk about it any way. Nosy Autobots.

"May I join you?"

The femme's helm jerked up at the voice and blinked several times, quickly subspacing the black blade. __Optimus Prime __was asking her for permission to sit down on the __stairs__. In his own base. Her whole frame stiffened as she nodded, stammering.

"O-of course, my lo- P-prime."

The large scarlet and blue mech regarded her with a sad gleam in his cobalt optics. He sat down beside her carefully, the metal stairs creaking slightly in protest to his added weight.

"Cliffjumper and Bumblebee have told me of your actions this day." The Prime finally said.

Terabyte muffled a whine from her engine as she tried to figure out what she'd done wrong. Reviewing all of her actions, she was almost positive that her actions had been sound. She hadn't done anything wrong!

Her armor shrank down to her frame just a teeny bit. The femme didn't reply, but merely kept her helm ducked down respectfully.

"Are you recovered from your injuries?" He asked softly.

__'What do you care?' __Terabyte thought bitterly. "I was not physically harmed, sir."

The Prime frowned thoughtfully and remained silent for a while. Terabyte was beginning to think that the conversation was mercifully over when he spoke again, more gingerly.

"Pain of spark then... did you know the Decepticon?"

She looked away before growling lightly. "His name was Makeshift. He was my mentor."

The Prime hummed in understanding, though Terabyte had no doubt that he didn't understand her pain in the slightest. She had now lost everyone that she loved, first in Protihex and now on this dreary dirt ball. Skyquake was now all she had left and he couldn't even remember much more than her name.

A drop of coolant rolled down her face, followed by several more. Terabyte kept her face turned away from the Autobot leader, willing herself to stop. She couldn't let him see her weakness, it would only make it harder for her to join their ranks and complete her mission. The Autobots would not accept a weakling either.

"Do not hide such a thing from me again, even if I am the only one you tell." The Prime ordered firmly. His voice softened considerably as he went on. "However, I understand your reasons for withholding that information... The loss of a loved one is always a terrible thing." Optimus whispered. If she had looked over, she would have seen the mech's optics mist over with remembered pain. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Her tears didn't stop, but the Autobot's false sympathy was too much. Terabyte turned to glare at the Prime with cold yellow optics and snarled, unknowingly slipping into Cybertronian part way through. "I don't want your sympathy or condolences. What would you - ****know of loss? This war has taken everything from me."****

****"I did not wish for Protihex to be destroyed."****

Guilt? As if. The Prime was laying on the act with more effort than he ought to have bothered himself with. Terabyte stoically ignored the Autobot's optics; she didn't want to acknowledge the sorrow that she'd glimpsed behind them.

****"I suppose you want me to believe that it was an accident? 'Cause that's not going to happen."****For the sake of her cover, Terabyte added, ****"I defected because I judged the Autobots to be the lesser of two evils."****

Optimus averted his cobalt gaze for a moment. ****"The Wreckers went against my direct orders when they inadvertently played a part in the destruction of your home. The name of Protihex stands in our memories as a great shame to all Autobots."****

Something in the mech's tone led Terabyte to believe him. Perhaps the _Autobots _really hadn't wanted Protihex destroyed. Perhaps it was purely the fault of Ultra Magnus and his Wreckers. But Protihex had still fallen.

****"I cannot pretend to understand the extent of your pain, but I hope to the core of my spark that we Autobots might be able to make amends for the grievous wrongs done by the insubordination of those under my leadership."****Optimus Prime told her quietly. Terabyte truly looked into the Autobot leader's optics for the first time; for some reason, she believed him. Turning away to stare unseeing at the empty room, the spy whispered sadly, her tears returning unrestrained.

**"******Amends can't be made for the dead of Protihex. ******_**They**_****** are the ones who were really wronged."****


	18. Report

****Duty and Deceit****

****Chapter 18****

****Report****

__She awoke slowly, her frame aching all over, though mostly on her left arm and her face. Her faceplates were overheating and stiff. She was lying on a soft berth, though it was unfamiliar to her. Not her own berth, much too big… But not med-bay either. Someone was sitting on the berth beside her, dabbing her forehelm with something cool.__

__The dabbing ceased for a moment and she heard heavy pede-falls going away for a short time before returning. Finally her curiosity won out against her reluctance to move and the two-wheeler opened her golden optics slowly. Above her was a rather interesting black roof with intricate designs painstakingly etched into it. It must have taken forever to carve such a beautiful pattern into it. Definitely not in her quarters; her roof was hideous.__

__With a muted grunt, the spy shoved herself upright. Skyquake, who was sitting on the berth, smiled weakly. He looked exhausted; he must have been tending her wounds for a while now. That must have been where he'd taken her: his own quarters. Of course. He didn't have access to anyone else's quarters.__

_"___How are you feeling?" He asked worriedly.__

_"___Like I had a run in with a pit of Sharkticons." She tried to smile and gasped as the mask cut into her face. Energon oozed from the reopened scratch.__

__Skyquake grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "Try not to move your faceplates; from what I can see, the mask is bent into the scrape. I need you to take down the mask, Tera."__

__She moaned and shook her helm stubbornly. Ever since her early upgrade to her adult frame, she had worn her mask constantly. No one had seen her faceplates for vorns, not even herself. It had become normal, almost comforting, to have her mask up. She had never trusted someone enough to show her face. Her face showed far too much of her thoughts and emotions.__

_"___I can't, Sky."__

__He looked at her worriedly. "Tera', you have to. You know how delicate faceplates are… you'll get rust in it or permanently damage your face."__

__She reached up and touched her overheated face gently with cool servos. He was right, the mask was making the damage worse and her face would never heal if she didn't take it off.__

__"I can't..." She looked into his optics, willing him to understand. She hated herself for not even trusting him enough to look at him face to face, but she wasn't sure she was ready yet. "I just... can't."__

__She could feel him running a scan over her and watched as his faceplates darkened when he got the results. Gently he slipped a pain chip into her wrist. It surprised her just how much it helped; she hadn't realized it hurt so bad until the painkiller relieved it.__

__Skyquake noticed her relief and caressed her hand soothingly. "Terabyte, I do not know why you wear that mask, but whatever the reason, I will love you just the same. No matter what."__

__Her golden optics flickered in shock as her logic centers attempted to process that information. Forever after the femme would remember her incredibly intelligent reply with chagrin. "You- w-what?"__

__The giant green mech grinned almost shyly. "I really care about you, Tera. Okay? I- you really matter to me, a lot, and I want you to be alright. If you didn't recover completely from this I would never forgive myself. Please, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me? For your pin cushion?"__

__The tiny bit of teasing broke the last few shreds of her reluctance and her shock and the Prussian blue spy laughed gently, trying not to wince as the tender mesh was stretched.__

__She tried to retract her mask, but the bent and shredded metal tore painfully at her face, too badly damaged to slide behind her finials. Gasping at the pain she put it back, vents heaving to cool her down.__

__"I can't." She rushed to go on as Skyquake's face filled with exasperated desperation. "It's too badly damaged."__

__Skyquake frowned for a moment before his optics brightened. He raised his hands up to her face but stopped half way. "May I?"__

__She nodded her black helm swiftly. Her processors were still rolling the new revelation over and over, subconsciously replaying the memory. Skyquake had said he loved her.__

__He reached up and with surprisingly gentle – for his size – servos, twisted the mask back into its approximate shape. Then very gently, and somewhat tentatively, Skyquake slid the mask off her face and under her finials.__

__Her silver face was covered in dried life-En, and she probably looked terrible, but Skyquake said nothing. He picked up the polishing cloth and dipped it into the pale green cleaning liquid. She felt him gently press the cloth to her faceplate, taking great care to clean off all of the life-En without hurting her. The femme's gaze flicked to Skyquake's face for a moment, but he was intent on his work.__

__Once he had cleaned the life-En from her face and the scrape, Skyquake dipped the cloth into a strange clear ointment, looked up at her and froze. His faceplates went slack and his mouth hung open slightly as whatever he'd been about to say died in his vocals.__

__She gave him a bemused and considerably less painful grin. "What?" When he didn't immediately respond, her tone got a little worried. "Is it really that bad?"__

__Skyquake shook his helm slowly. "No... It's- you're beautiful! I- I thought, I mean... uh... well most femmes..."__

__The small femme's optics brightened and she smiled again, taking pleasure in knowing that he could see it. He could see her smile. "Since when do I count as 'most femmes'?" She teased, punching him lightly on the arm only to wince as she was reminded of her injuries.__

__He gave her a tiny smile and went back to work. The jet gently steadied her helm in one large hand, treating the scratch with the other.__

__As Skyquake tenderly cleaned and treated her wounds, she wasn't able to stop smiling. No one had seen her smile vorns, but now that was going to change. Maybe trust wasn't such a bad thing.__

* * *

****/Mission Report- Operation Infiltration/****

****/0830-Twelfth Rotation-Third Orn-Twenty-sixth Quartex on Planet Earth/****

****Long live the Lord Protector that Cybertron may shine once more.****

****During the past orns, much has occurred in the Autobot base. Lieutenant Terabyte has not yet been accepted among their ranks, however, the Prime has granted said lieutenant a conditional parole and most hostile attitudes towards her have dissipated. Daily logs enclosed.****

****The Autobots have not yet revealed the location of their base. Information gathered thus far indicates their base to be in a desert region, most likely located in the Earth states of Africa, Egypt, or the portions of their USA designated Nevada or Arizona. Coordinates unknown.****

****The sleeper agent known as Skyquake was severely injured by Autobot Bumblebee, however their medic has repaired the damage and expects a full recovery. Presently, the sleeper agent has shown signs of extenuating memory loss. Medical assessments to present rotation are enclosed in this file.****

****Commander Makeshift was recently sent to infiltrate the Autobots in an attempt to learn their location more quickly. His mission was a failure and nearly caused Lieutenant Terabyte's position to be questioned. The Autobots are on alert, further infiltration missions aside from the long-term mission in progress are not advisable at this time.****

****/data:dailylogs/LieutenantTerabyte/****

****/data:medical/Skyquake/****

****/End Report/****

* * *

Terabyte tapped in the last line of encryption on her report and proofread the coding. She had placed level one encryptions as well as a few of her own just in case it got into Autobot hands. The spy had no doubts that her commander would be able to decode her encryptions in a few klicks. It still bothered her that Soundwave was able to crash all of her groons of hard work coding in less than two breems.

She hefted a huge sigh and glanced over at Arcee's empty berth. The other femme had gone to Jack's to take him to work. It was a Saturday morning, so in a few more groons she and the human would return. Terabyte opened a comm. link to Cliffjumper.

__/Terabyte requesting Autobot escort from her quarters to the main chamber./ __Only after she'd sent it did she realize that she'd referred to herself in the third person. Soundwave required all of his subordinates' reports to be in a strictly unbiased viewpoint and in third person. It made the official records much tidier.

__/Cliffjumper answering request of Defector Terabyte./__She smirked a little bit at the red mech's mocking glyphs. Following them came several smiley faces of various sorts, some Earth ones and a few Cybertronian ones. There was also one that resembled Nebulan glyphs.__/There a reason for the third person formality?/__

__/No, sir. I was simply writing a progress report and had not switched to first person./__She replied. Her glyphs were, as always, tight and uniform. Today they were a little tighter than normal. Her spark still ached from Makeshift's harsh disowning of her.

__/Prime wants our reports in third person?!/__His glyphs were now sloppy and teasingly alarmed. __/No wonder he's grumpy after reading our reports… I don't think any of us do that./__

Terabyte reread his answer on her HUD several times before replying slowly, covering for her slip-up.__/I was not aware of Autobot writing regulations; they were not in the manual. I have been writing my reports according to Decepticon format./__

Ba-dink.

She quickly opened the doors and stepped outside. Cliffjumper was leaning against the wall in the hall way. "You actually read the rule book?"

Nodding slowly, Terabyte cocked an optic ridge at the warrior. "Am I the only one on this base who has? Arcee had not read it either."

The red mech laughed as he started walking down towards the main room. "I think Optimus __might__have read it… I know he got at least half-way through. Prowl was a fanatic of regulations. No one that I know ever made it past page fifty."

Terabyte blinked. "The manual is nine-hundred and thirty-four pages long."

"Yep." He didn't seem too bothered by the fact that they didn't know any of their own rules. The Autobots were an even more lax army than she had thought.

They passed Optimus Prime's office on their way, and Terabyte made a rapid decision. Her tone was still stiffly formal in spite of her escort's teasing and cheerful manner. "I would like to see the Prime. If you do not mind?"

"I do not mind. Proceed." Cliffjumper said in exaggerated formality. He was obviously making an effort to cheer her up. It wasn't working.

Her armor flaring outward just a little bit more than her usual, Terabyte knocked on the Prime's door. The mech's deep voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"Enter!"

She did as he asked and walked in cautiously, maintaining a submissive posture. Optimus was sitting at his desk, glaring at the screen of his desk. Finally he looked up and saw Cliffjumper just outside the door.

"Cliffjumper... What have I told you about human laws and enforcers?" His tone was stern, but it was obvious that they'd had this conversation several times.

"We are robots in disguise, therefore we ought not draw attention to ourselves by disregarding their laws. Furthermore, taunting the human enforcers is unacceptable for us as Autobots because it is disrespectful to our human allies." The front-liner quoted boredly. "Yeah, I know... but following the law is boring."

"In the past month you have gotten fifty four tickets, a total of one point two million dollars in fines, and you have been legally banned from over a dozen states. All of this is only from the USA, other nations have similar lists." The way the Prime spoke indicated that this record was meant to be shameful to the red mech.

"Really?" Cliffjumper asked excitedly. He pumped his fist in the air and winked at her, leaning over to whisper, "Finally broke my record!"

At this point, the Autobot leader seemed to notice her for the first time. She gave him a half bow as he looked her way. "Terabyte, how are you feeling?"

She shrugged noncommittally. "I function within normal parameters. May I ask who has the morning patrol?"

Optimus nodded, his optics seeming to bore through her. "It is due time for you to take patrol again. Would this morning be acceptable?"

Again the fact that he would ask her opinion on the matter caused her systems to hitch in surprise. "Y-yes sir. Thank you, Prime."

"Cliffjumper, I believe you are free this morning? Accompany Terabyte on patrol." He still sounded annoyed with the red warrior. Terabyte figured that this was not the first month filled with Cliffjumper's fines and tickets. Nor would it likely be the last.

"You will patrol the town called Jasper, since there has been some Vehicon activity there recently. Just this once Cliffjumper, obey the traffic laws." The Autobot leader turned to her and smiled faintly. "Terabyte, you will require an Earth vehicular mode. It will also be necessary for you to obtain a human holo-form: a rider-less motorcycle will not go unnoticed."

Terabyte stiffened and shook her helm slightly, her finials dipping down as she fearfully spoke against the great mech. "S-sir. With all due respect sir, I will not abandon my Cybertronian alt-mode. O-our home may be dead, but I will not allow our heritage and culture to perish as well. I will obtain a human holo-form, however I ask that I be allowed to keep my Cybertronian form. Sir."

Optimus studied her for a while, his expression unreadable. Finally he spoke. "Present yourself in your vehicle mode to the human children. If they judge your appearance to be sufficiently Earth-like, then I will grant your request. If not, you must comply if you truly wish to join our ranks. Understood?"

The suggestion was fair enough. Terabyte glanced over at Cliffjumper before nodding. "Very well sir. Thank you sir."

* * *

Cliffjumper had just finished explaining her agreement with Optimus to the children, so she was stuck in her alt-mode, feeling very much like an item in a shop window, up for display.

Miko hummed thoughtfully and stepped back to examine her from a different vantage point... for what felt like the millionth time. Jack had shrugged and said she was fine. He hadn't been too interested in passing any judgement other than that he preferred Arcee. Raf said he'd seen concept vehicles similar enough that she would just be considered a very rare and expensive limited edition motorcycle.

Now Terabyte just needed Miko's decision. The human femme was being very slow to decide. Finally she laughed. "You're a wicked looking bike, TB. I'm pretty sure that's as far as anyone'll care. I say you're good!"

* * *

The black and Prussian blue motorcycle drove forward into the school parking lot of a small place called Jasper, Nevada. They'd taken a bridge here. School was currently in session so no one was around to see her. According to Cliffjumper, there would be lots of the average aged human femmes coming out in a few breems. Then all she had to do was scan a few that she liked and take her favorite attributes.

Until then, she had a chance to simply sit and observe the humans, replaying her brief reunion with Makeshift before his termination in her mind. His optics had been lit with excitement and... pleasure when he was killing Voltage and the other Vehicons. The same glee had been in the bond right before he broke it.

Could she have really been so blind that she just hadn't noticed? Her own mentor was one of the bloodthirsty mechs that were so like the Autobots. How many others were the same way? How much had her lust for revenge blinded her to?

She fought in the war to protect other innocents from the pain the Autobots had caused her, but were the Decepticons any better?

Terabyte shook her steering wheel. She had been with the Decepticons since her final upgrade, she couldn't start doubting her cause. She was on the right side. There's just a few bad mechs in the ranks, just like the Autobots have a few good mechs.

"Oh... you are beautiful!" Terabyte froze as a squishy hand slid over her seat. "You are the coolest bike I've ever seen." According to her sensors, the hand belonged to a human femme, a very young human femme, even younger than Raf.

The motorcycle tried not to move as the child clambered up to sit on her seat with a little difficulty. "Oooh! I so want a bike like you! When I'm a grown up." Her handle twitched. "I got an A on my math test today. It was really easy. Though I'm not sure why I'm telling you... Oh, there's my mom... I need to go home now. Bye!"

With that, the little human femme slid off her and ran to a little car parked on the sidewalk. Soon there were kids and young humans running around talking loudly. Terabyte scanned several femmes as a group of them walked past, laughing and giggling.

Most of the human mechs would stop and point and talk about her for awhile before heading off. Several would run their hands over her handles, or take photos of her. Staying totally still while the humans practically drooled over her was not easy.

By the end of a few breems, Terabyte had scanned almost fifty femmes and configured a suitable holo-form. She'd also obtained a considerably thick layer of human grease smears on the majority of her armor.

__/I have obtained a human holo-form. No Decepticon activity in the area./__Terabyte commed dutifully.__/Where are you?/__

No response appeared on her HUD. After a few klicks, Terabyte tried again.__/Cliffjumper, state your location./ ___S_he frowned. It wasn't like the red mech to not respond.__/Cliffjumper, where are you?/__

Finally she received a rushed message on her HUD, along with a quick location ping. __/Fighting Soundwave. Back up would be great./__

__/Hold him for five klicks. Terabyte out./__

Terabyte formed her holo-form in a nearby alley, and looked around through it. That was really weird. She turned her gaze to look at herself. She had red hair, and she was rather short and skinny for a human her age: approximately twenty years. Human frames were so squishy and odd looking. She shook her helm- head; getting distracted.

Her holo-form ran out of the alley and jumped up onto her seat. In moments, Terabyte was out of the city. She dissolved her holo-form and transformed when she saw where Cliffjumper and her commander were fighting.

Deftly, Terabyte pulled a tiny data chip out of her subspace compartment. On it was her report, daily logs, and findings and calculations that she'd made while with the Autobots. With any luck, she could somehow slip it to Soundwave during the battle.

She slid the chip up under her wrist armor and ran towards the battle. She watched as Cliffjumper was flung through the air and hit his helm on the ground, sliding several feet. Soundwave walked towards him slowly and Terabyte shot him in the arm. Her cannon wasn't on full power.

Soundwave glanced in her direction but didn't change course or slow down. He simply pulled out his laser and shot at her, catching her hip. Terabyte heaved a pained vent. She nodded minutely. Okay then. Keeping her cover meant fighting full on. Lesson learned.

Laying down light cover fire, Terabyte rushed over to where Cliffjumper was stumbling to his pedes. Soundwave was closing on him fast. The red mech wasn't recovering fast enough; he looked like he'd gotten thrown around like that for the whole battle.

The two-wheeler wondered vaguely how long the mech had been struggling before he asked for help. From the dents in his armor, it had been a decent amount of time.

Her commander reached the Autobot before she did and slammed his gun into Cliffjumper's stomach and fired, the blast sending the red mech through the air again, this time coming to an abrupt halt as his frame crashed into a cliff face. Luckily his armor just barely survived the blast, protecting his spark and internals.

He bounced off the rock and landed on his face in the dirt. The rock where he'd hit was smeared with life-En. His armor was scratched, dented and dirty. Energon mixed with mud was caked on his whole frame.

Terabyte's vents hitched as the red mech struggled to raise his helm enough to look at her. His lips curled up in a weak smile. Life-En was pouring down the corner of his mouth and from a gash on the side of his helm.

Soundwave was approaching where Cliffjumper lay on the ground. Seeing a window of opportunity, Terabyte put on a huge burst of speed, running towards her commander. She drew her dagger as she ran.

The purple jet hardly glanced at her, intent on his purpose. If she didn't stop him, the red mech would be offlined. This didn't really bother her - he was still an Autobot - but his death on her watch would cripple her mission. Her finials twitched. Attacking her commanding officer... Not good.

She was halfway to him when the purple mech bent down over Cliffjumper, picking him up by his neck armor and raising him several feet above the ground. Surprisingly the mech pulled out a blade and raised it above Cliffjumper's spark. Normally Soundwave didn't like to get his servos dirty.

For some reason, the image of the red mech's weak smile despite his injuries reappeared in her mind. Something in her spark made her double her speed. Moments before the blade touched the scuffed red chassis, Terabyte leapt between the Autobot and her commander, shoving Cliffjumper to the ground. The blade scratched her chest plate, the black and navy femme just barely slipping past with minimal damage.

Now Soundwave actually looked at her. Turning away from the red Autobot who was lying in the dirt, staring at her with his mouth hanging slightly open, her commander twitched his wrist and the lasers charged up. She brushed away a tiny part of fear at the huge looming jet.

Terabyte lunged at Soundwave, slicing - and missing - the mech's visor. At the same moment she slipped her small silver hand into his purple one, discreetly passing her report to him. She'd hardly accomplished this task when the jet flung her off like she was little more than a bothersome pest.

The small two-wheeler howled in agony as she hit the cliff face with a sickening crunch of metal. She'd hit it helm first, the force snapping one of her sensory finials - the most pain sensitive part of her - in half and bending the other one to an awkward angle. The world was spinning a little bit, it felt lopsided; a result of losing so much of her sensory net.

She raised her mini-cannon, her aim wobbly. Her depth perception was off as was her vision in general. There were two of Soundwave, each running in opposite directions. Charging her gun, Terabyte fired at one of the Soundwaves. Apparently it was the right one, though how she managed to hit him she never knew.

Her commander slowed, her shot having hit him in the upper pede, his gait lopsided as he transformed and flew off. The jet cloud hung in the sky like a warning.

* * *

She stared at the limping, dented mech in front of her. Her finials swayed as she tried to make sense of him, or at least the bent one did. The other just sort of twitched and sparked. Terabyte was getting the most confusing sensor readings from him. According to her sensory net, there were three Cliffjumpers around her, but she could only see the one.

Her sensors were also telling her that he was colder than the Arctic and his helm was on upside down.

Laughing silently to herself - giddy from the pain, in spite of having shut off her pain receptors - Terabyte turned off her malfunctioning sensor relays. Repressing a gasp at the disorienting inability to feel her surroundings, the two-wheeler slowly blinked her gold optics and tried to stand up.

Instantly she knew that she shouldn't have tried to do that. The world started spinning, going round and round and round and... She tripped on her own pedes and stumbled... up? Right? Backwards? Terabyte couldn't tell which direction was which.

She'd never had both her primary and secondary sensors offline at the same time before. This time her secondary systems were fried when her finial snapped and shorted out. The world around her was blank and strange.

She could tell however, when she failed to hit the ground. Opening her optics, which she hadn't realized had been shut, Terabyte saw nothing but red. Were her optics damaged too? Then her disoriented processors reached the obvious conclusion. The little two-wheeler shoved herself away from the red surface that was Cliffjumper – though he still kept his hands on her shoulders to steady either her or himself, it was hard to tell – feeling him wobble precariously. He was really badly injured, much worse than she was.

"Can you call for a bridge?" She asked finally. Her own long distance comms were still disconnected, there hadn't been a need to reconnect them.

"Sorry. Comms are down... Soundwave fried them." He winced as he gestured to the various scorch marks on his frame. "We'll just have to walk. I probably shouldn't transform."

In spite of her nonexistent equilibrium and balance, Terabyte had to repress the urge to jump up and down in excitement. She was about to learn where their base was! This was great, maybe her mission wouldn't be so long... At this rate, she might be able to get the Decepticon fleet out by the next quartex!

Somewhere within driving distance of a tiny town in the middle of Jasper Nevada. The Decepticons never would have guessed. Jasper was a pathetic little town in the middle of nowhere.

Her glee faded just as quickly when she remembered Raf and how nice he was to her. Megatron hardly tolerated the humans and Starscream absolutely despised them. The masquerading Autobots were at least treating the youngling relatively well.

What if all of her colleagues regarded humans in the same respect as Makeshift had? The war had hardened the sparks of all Cybertronians, Bots and Cons alike. Were the humans safe with either side?

Her thoughts must have shown in her optics, because Cliffjumper cocked his helm with one optic ridge raised, mistaking the cause of her concern. "You going to be able to manage?"

Terabyte laughed lightly, gripping the mech's shoulders in a braced position as her lack of sensors threatened to throw her to the ground again. She'd wait to tell Soundwave about their location until she had coordinates. "You're worse off than I am. If you can make it, I just need to follow. All I'll be able to do is follow though; I couldn't tell up from down if my life depended on it."

Cliffjumper laughed at that, though it progressed into a harsh, racking cough. There was that one old femme in her apartment, Stormsong. The one with constant coughing fits and the most delicious copper rounds. She never did water the old femme's sapphires.

Terabyte frowned. Why was she thinking about that? She hadn't thought too much about Protihex in vorns, yet here nearly every little thing here flooded her with memories. Nothing with the Decepticons had reminded her so much of home.

"Why..." Cliffjumper hesitated thoughtfully for a bit, wincing as his vocals caught. "Why don't we use our holo-forms to go back to Jasper? Then we could call one of the kids to send a bridge."

"That would work... but we'd need to transform, just in case." She pointed out absently, still trying to sort out her own thoughts.

He nodded and with quite a bit of difficulty and obvious pain, folded himself down into the horribly beat-up Dodge Challenger that was his vehicle mode. Terabyte followed suit and threw out her kickstand to balance herself. Then they activated their holo-forms and began the trek back to the town.

Cliffjumper's holo-form was a young human male, around Jack's age, with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a mischievous grin. He had freckles and was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, with a red t-shirt underneath.

Her own holo-form was a human female, older than his - even though she was technically younger - with long curly red hair pulled up in a loose ponytail, green eyes, and dainty features. She wore a Prussian blue t-shirt with a denim jacket and black cargo pants. A thin, jagged scar ran from just below the outer edge of her eye to just above her lips.

After about half a breem, Cliffjumper looked over at her. "So... did you know that Wheeljack was really a 'Con?"

Terabyte didn't answer, though she knew he'd take that as a yes. She didn't want to talk about it. Not to an Autobot, not to anyone. This was between her and Makeshift, and she needed to think about it; figure out how she felt about all of it.

"Oh." The mech was quiet for a while longer before he spoke up again. "I thought you changed sides... Why didn't you tell us? Things might've worked out better."

_'Better meaning he'd have died sooner.' _Terabyte's engine would have growled if human holo-forms had engines. "I didn't want him to get hurt."

"Was he family?"

"My mentor." The city was getting closer, though it seemed so much further away in human forms.

"We wouldn't have hurt him, Tera." Cliffjumper said gently.

Terabyte froze in her footsteps and glared at him. Only her family could call her that. And Skyquake. "Don't call me that. No one calls me that, got it? I don't care whose side you're on, no one calls me that."

He raised his hands in surrender, taking a few steps backwards. "Okay, okay... I didn't know. Did the Shifter call you that?"

She glared at him a little longer before she muttered angrily. "His name was Makeshift, but I guess he died before you could ask. And no."

They walked in silence for the rest of the way, Terabyte's mood getting darker with every footstep. It was the Autobots' fault that Makeshift turned on her. He would never have become the mech that broke their bond and took hostages and enjoyed killing if it weren't for the Autobots.

They started the War, their beloved Primes did.

If the Autobots had never started the War, her creators would still be alive, Smokescreen would be at her side and Cybertron would still be a prosperous world. Darkshine would be alive with her twin and millions of Cybertronians across the galaxies would still be living happily with their families and homes. All of the death and destruction since the dawn of the War was the fault of the Autobots.

All of the records said as much. She could not doubt the records, or her cause.


	19. Remembrance of Self

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 19**

**Remembrance of Self**

_Breathe in, breathe out. Steady... take aim. Fire!_

_A black scorch mark appeared on the wall. Next to the target. The wall was smoking; several such marks covered its once-silver surface. She sighed. The spy hadn't managed to hit a single target._

_"You okay? Normally you're a pretty good shot... something wrong? You aren't focused." Nightracer said, walking up to her and pushing her cannon down._

_The Prussian blue and black femme smiled at her friend. "No nothing's wrong. I'm just a bit distracted... I think I'm going to cut our shooting practice short, 'Racer."_

_The light blue and gray sniper cocked her helm. "What's so distracting? Is it Shadowlight still? That was almost a quartex ago."_

_She looked at her friend sadly, but shook her helm. "No... I was actually contemplating getting a different paint job."_

_"Oh! That would be great... what colors were you thinking? I think you'd look fabulous in pink."_

_Under her battle mask, which she only left down when she was with Skyquake, the spy made a face and stuck out her glossa. "Pink? Yuck, I'd purge every time I saw myself. No, I was thinking a bit brighter blue, with a more silvery proto-plating, and sort of a yellow instead of my black. You think that would be good?"_

_Nightracer blinked several times before her red optics lit up. "You really had this thought out... those colors would be perfect for you!"_

_"That was my color scheme before-" She cut herself off before the memories could form in her thoughts. "When I was a youngling. I changed it when I got into the War. I don't remember the exact yellow though... maybe you could help?"_

_**One and a Half Groons Later**_

_She held up a bottle of gold paint for Nightracer to judge, turning around at the same time to look at the pale yellow the sniper was holding. With a long sigh, both femmes spoke up tiredly._

_"Nope. Try another. Again."_

_The blue was out already as was the silver, but the two Decepticon femmes had been searching for a good shade of yellow for more than a groon. It had taken half that time just to find any shade of yellow. They were about to give up when Nightracer pulled out a bottle from the very back of the shelf._

_The color reminded her of sunlight. It had been a while since Cybertron had a sun. The planet had floated out of its orbit about a vorn ago. She smiled softly. That was the right color; in fact, it was perfect._

_"Terabyte, look at this one! Isn't it perfect?"_

_She nodded, "Just right. Now let's get started!"_

_She walked down the corridors to the mess hall, peeking around each corner before continuing. Her paint job had been great until she had to go to work. She felt like she stood out too much in a crowd. Yellow was an incredibly rare color among Decepticons._

_Finally, she reached the mess hall. It was packed. Normally it was empty around now; she hadn't wanted to have lunch while it was full. Spotting Skyquake, the two-wheeler snuck through the crowd to the quiet corner that he was seated at, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible._

_Her armor was too bright for a war zone. There was no way she could keep it. She loved it, but she couldn't keep it. Maybe after the War. When the Autobots' reign of terror ended._

_Skyquake looked up at her and waved as she sat down. "New paint job? It really suits you."_

_Lowering her mask, the femme smiled at the compliment, but shook her helm. "I'm going to change it back as soon as I'm allowed."_

_He frowned. "Only an orn? Why?"_

_"How many other yellow Decepticons have you met? I stand out like oil in an Energon mine."_

_Skyquake laughed and took a long sip of his Energon. "I guess it's harder to sneak around when you practically glow in the dark... too bad; I still like it better."_

_She laughed quietly. "Maybe after the War... What'll you do, you know, after?"_

_He stared off into emptiness, a sad expression flashing over his faceplates before he brightened. His optics stayed clouded. "Oh, I don't know... I was on the streets before I found the 'Cons. What is there besides this? I'm happy now; I've got family, a home, and the best friend I could ever ask for. What more does a mech need?"_

The walk back to the city was long and tensely silent. By the time they were in Jasper, Terabyte's mood was blacker than it had been in quite a while. Cliffjumper had wisely remained silent the rest of the trip... until they entered the city.

"Ho..." He breathed sharply, drawing out the 'o'. "Scrap, that hurts!"

Terabyte looked over at him quickly, her holographic red hair swinging with the motion. "What hurts?" She snapped, seeing nothing wrong.

"There's an organic walking on my hood." He groaned finally.

"What kind of organic?" She asked a _little_ more gently, still remembering the extent of the damage her commander had dealt the red mech. She wasn't sure why Soundwave hadn't simply offed him. It was as if the purple spy had been _playing_ with him.

"Coyote." He paused for a moment before his human face wrinkled up into a disgusted expression. "Ewww! It's lubricating on my tires! Blech, yuck, gross, ew... Do you know how long it takes to get the smell of organic waste fluids off? My olfactory sensors will be in torment for days!"

A few human pedestrians looked at the 'teenager' like he'd just lost his processor. They very pointedly left a wide space between themselves and him as they walked around. Terabyte heard a little boy ask his mother loudly.

"Aren't crazy people s'posed to be in a special hospit'l?"

His mother grabbed his hand and walked away even faster, her appalled whisper still reaching Terabyte, "Shh! Evan! The poor boy might have heard you!"

Terabyte's - until then - refrained laughter bubbled up in her chassis until she finally busted up laughing harder than she'd laughed since Skyquake left for his Earth mission. Doubled over and clutching her holographic stomach, the spy struggled to compose herself.

Cliffjumper's expression was distressed, yet amused at the same time. "It's not funny! The thing just lubricated on me and walked off!"

She looked up at him, biting her lip in a vain attempt to not laugh. It didn't work and soon she was laughing all over again. The sound of her mirth was contagious and soon Cliffjumper was laughing just as hard.

"Your face-!" She managed to get out amidst her silent laughs. She was laughing so hard that coolant began to fill her eyes. For a moment her concentration wavered and her holo-form glitched out. Thankfully, no one noticed. She wasn't even sure why it was so hilarious, but that was part of why she was laughing. Probably stress from her situation. "Should've seen your expression!"

Once they were finally calmed down, the spy and the Autobot continued towards the pay phone at the end of the road, both still grinning and stifling another round of laughing.

When they reached the phone, Cliffjumper motioned for her to go ahead. Terabyte cocked her head at the sign next to it, asking for '25¢'. She didn't have any human currency, though she was familiar with the substance.

"Do you have a 'quarter', sir?" Somehow, she forced her tone back to formality.

"Uh... no. Yes." Cliffjumper frowned. "In my backseat. Jack dropped it last time he rode with me."

Helpful. After thinking about it for a while, Terabyte shrugged and produced a holographic coin. It would make the machine work. She hated the dishonesty of it, but she didn't have a choice. If she ever got a chance, she'd pay it back later.

Dialing Raf's number, the spy held the device to the humans' version of an audio. The metallic ring echoed several times before the boy answered.

"Hello? Who is it?"

"This is Terabyte. Cl-"

"How are you using a phone?" Raf interrupted her quickly.

"I am using a holo-form. Cliffjumper and I n-" She growled lightly as the boy interrupted her again.

"What's a holo-form?"

Terabyte answered the question as simply as she could, hoping to avoid more interruptions. "A holo-form is a mobile, three dimensional image controlled and activated by a Cybertronian, which looks, sounds, and feels like whatever it is programmed for. We're using human holo-forms because our own frames are badly injured. Which takes me back to my initial r-"

"What do you look like? How'd you get hurt? D-"

"Raf!" Terabyte finally interrupted, feeling an illogical pleasure at being able to cut him off. "I'll answer any questions you have when we are back at base. Okay? Right now, tell Ratchet we need a bridge at these coordinates: 40 degrees north by -116 west."

"40 north by -116 west. Got it."

As soon as the boy confirmed the coordinates, Terabyte hung up and she and Cliffjumper dissolved their holo-forms. The spy heaved a sigh of relief as her processors were no longer split between two forms. At the same time, she was grateful for the kickstand holding her steady as the tiny motion upset her balancing systems again. Only through her senses could she know the world around her; not having streams of data about her surroundings constantly pouring through her made her helm feel empty and gave her a slightly light-helmed feeling.

She didn't know how humans did it, living their whole lives with only their eyes, ears, and nose to tell them of the world. They could never know the mass or density or temperature of objects... or anything.

Soon enough, a ground bridge portal appeared a few feet away from them. Cliffjumper groaned and started driving slowly towards it. Terabyte struggled to follow suit, but her steering was crooked and she had to make massive adjustments to her direction. In the end – after crashing into him multiple times – Cliffjumper slowed down and moved over just enough so that she could lean lightly against him for support and direction.

Arriving in the main chamber of the Autobot base, Terabyte looked around at the mechs gathered. All of them were wounded; scrapes, dents, and Energon marked the armor of everyone except Ratchet.

Terabyte considered transforming, but as she did so, a scenario played through her mind in which she rushed to transform, stumbled, tripped over Cliffjumper and landed in an undignified heap beside the red Dodge. Not such a great plan.

Cliffjumper whistled. "What on Earth happened to you guys? You look terrible."

Arcee, seated on a cargo box, snorted. "You're one to talk."

Meanwhile Ratchet was staring at the two latest arrivals with his mouth slightly open, his optics ablaze, and looking like he was genuinely about to blow a fuse in his processor. It took a considerable effort not to laugh at the medic. Absolutely everyone under his care required extensive repairs.

Optimus turned to look at Cliffjumper before replying soberly, "Our escort for Agent Fowler's DNGS - or, 'dingus' - was intercepted by a new enemy; a human organization known as MECH. Their technology is more advanced than any human organization we have yet encountered."

**"Prime's mostly just beat up because he stepped in front of a moving train." **Bumblebee whirred helpfully.

The picture of the regal Autobot leader just randomly walking in front of train flashed into Terabyte's processor. Before she could stop herself, the spy's handlebars tilted sceptically in the alt-mode equivalent of raising an optic ridge.

Ratchet walked over with a wrench in one hand and growled. "The children were on board, along with Fowler's machine. MECH destroyed the railway."

Terabyte inclined her helm slightly in acknowledgement. "The humans are unharmed?"

"Luckily for them." Ratchet answered grouchily.

Arcee's optics narrowed as she inspected the damage her partner had sustained. "The kids are fine. What I want to know is; what did you do to Cliffjumper?"

Hoping to feel less vulnerable, Terabyte slowly transformed into her bi-pedal mode, swaying a little before she regained her balance. Beside her, Cliffjumper did the same. It was very obvious that he had received far greater injuries.

Her armor flared out and she opened her mouth to reply in indignant self-defense, but Cliffjumper spoke first.

"Relax Arcee. Terabyte just saved my life."

Everyone in the room reacted in varying levels of surprise at the red mech's statement. Except the Prime. The bearer of the Matrix simply nodded as if he had been expecting something like that to happen. Terabyte maintained a neutral expression, scowling inwardly. She hadn't _wanted_ to save the mech. He was an Autobot. She'd have let the warrior get offlined if it weren't for her mission. The strange feeling in her spark that had urged her to leap between him and the blade was long forgotten and ignored by the Decepticon spy.

Arcee glared at Cliffjumper, obviously not willing to believe it. Cliffjumper's engine growled in frustration. "Soundwave attacked me when Terabyte was at the school getting a holo-form on Prime's orders. She checked in and I requested back-up. I was severely injured and too weak to really fight back when she arrived. Soundwave had me in his grasp, ready to deal the final blow with his Energon blade when Terabyte leapt between me and the blade, _risking her own life_ to rescue me."

The pink and blue femme's gaze remained skeptical. Bulkhead took a step forward in challenge. "We've already had one Decepticon spy get in here. How do you know she isn't a spy too? If she were a spy, she'd only have saved your aft to strengthen her cover."

Terabyte forced herself not to react to the accusation. Her snapped finial twitched, sending a massive wave of dizziness through her, making her wobble precariously as the world spun. The next breem could bring the end of her mission and probably, knowing the Autobots, the end of her life. Every action had to be perfect and totally supportive of her position.

"And if she really is on our side, why didn't she warn us about the Decepticon infiltrator? How did she always know where he was if she wasn't in touch with him?"

Terabyte pulled on a sickeningly pleading, innocent voice. At the same time, her balance failed and she crashed down on one knee, hands out to steady herself. "He was my mentor! I didn't know what would happen to him if you knew... The Decepticons torture and execute any infiltrators..."

Cliffjumper glared at Bulkhead and Arcee. "Hasn't Terabyte proved herself yet? Haven't you seen how kindly she treats the kids? She's gentle to the humans whether we're around or not, does that sound Decepticon to you? How can we ever have peace if we never trust? She was willing to sacrifice herself to save me from Soundwave. If she was only a Decepticon spy, would she have risked so much just for her cover?"

Bulkhead seemed to think over that for a moment before he nodded slowly and backed down. Arcee crossed her arms rebelliously, unconvinced.

The Prime looked at each one of them before turning to Arcee. "Cliffjumper has presented a valid point, Arcee. Terabyte has given us no reason to doubt her intentions and she has shown many of the very virtues we Autobots uphold. Her actions today were not the acts of a Decepticon."

Arcee stood unchanging for a moment before she reluctantly submitted to the Prime's authority. Satisfied that the argument was over, Optimus addressed the medic. "Ratchet, tend to Terabyte's sensor relays, they appear to be severely damaged. Then repair Cliffjumper and the others."

Terabyte shook her helm, shakily rising to her pedes, the motion causing her to nearly lose her balance again. "With all due respect, Lor- Prime, the damage I have sustained is in-insignificant, I am able to repair it myself. The medic's skill would be better used on someone more injured than myself."

"As you wish." Optimus answered with a nod of approval. "Ratchet?"

The medic stared at Terabyte in shock for a moment - knowing the pain her finials were know doubt causing her - before dipping his helm. With Bulkhead and Bumblebee's help, Cliffjumper was taken to med-bay for repairs.

**Earlier That Rotation (Approximately One Hour After Terabyte and Cliffjumper Left for Patrol.)**

The first thing Skyquake noticed upon waking was the sound. Someone was humming rather off-tune to an unheard music. The next thing he noticed was that that someone was very, very close to him. Finally, and perhaps the most disturbing thing, he realized that there was something squishy on his chassis. He could feel something wet being dragged across his chest, a smear of thick wet liquid sticking to his armor where the something had touched.

Skyquake onlined his optics slowly, a rush of ecstasy flowing through him at how the optics came online right when he wanted them to. His helm didn't hurt so bad either, though his processors were still not completely synced. Cautiously the army green jet looked down at his chassis.

He would have jumped upright if he wasn't so tightly restrained to the berth. Finally, he blinked. Laying on his chest was an organic creature of some sort. Its helm was black and pink and its finials were strangely floppy. Cords were sticking out of the sides of its helm. In its hands, the creature held a stick that was dripping a strange neon pink liquid onto his chassis. Beside it was a pile of tiny containers, likely containing more of the liquid?

It blinked back at him several times before standing up – on his chest – and shouting. "RAAATTCHET! He's awake!"

Skyquake cocked his helm at the little creature before tentatively asking, "What on** Cybertron es** vous?" Another thrill of excitement rushed through him as he realized that the words had come out properly, for the most part. Languages had gotten garbled this time. Cybertronian and a couple of human languages.

The squishy thing frowned at him. "Huh?"

The jet thought for a moment before trying again. His processors hadn't fully absorbed the data the medic had given him and being out of sync was still slowing the process considerably. "What... you?"

"Oh! My name's Miko. I'm a human." The thing replied cheerfully.

"Miko." Skyquake ran a mental search for the word 'human'. A short message appeared on his HUD. It read, 'Word not found. Consulting Archives... Error: Archives not found.' "Human?"

It gaped at him for a moment before muttering, "Sheesh, this guy doesn't know _anything._" Louder the creature explained, "Humans are the people of Earth. Like you guys are Cybertronians."

Skyquake considered this for a moment before nodding. He looked down at the rainbows, flowers, and other such scenery that had been doodled on his chassis in bright sticky colors. "Miko: messy. Why?"

He was guessing that the creature was a femme, though he still couldn't remember anything about these 'humans'. She grinned at him and shrugged her shoulders. Mimicking his inability to speak properly, the squishy laughed. "Fun: Pretty."

The large green jet regarded the sticky scribbles on his chassis. He shook his helm, unconvinced. He didn't even try to speak properly, rather he teased, "Not... Messy, gross, ugly. No fun."

The squishy giggled and bent down, dragging a stripe of the pink across his faceplates. Skyquake chuckled at the human's antics. He concluded that this femme was only a youngling. At this moment, Ratchet entered again. He took one look at the human and Decepticon and stopped in his tracks, dropping the welding torch he was holding.

Hearing the torch crash on the concrete, Skyquake and Miko looked at the medic simultaneously. Miko grinned. "Hi, Ratch! You sure this guy's a 'Con? He's way too fun to be a Decepticon."

Ratchet spluttered for several astroseconds before he finally managed to reply. "Miko, this- this _monster_ is a known war criminal! He would kill you without a second thought, if he so chose. Get away from him."

Monster. War criminal. Merciless killer. Was that what he was before? Skyquake repressed a shudder. If that was who he had been, did he really want to remember? He didn't want to be the root of sparkling's nightmare stories. He didn't want to be feared.

"Doc, relax! He's got a scary voice, that's all. Besides, he couldn't move if he wanted to. You've got enough restraints on him to hold down an angry t-rex!" With that, the femme-ling sat down on his chassis and crossed her arms over her chest.

Ratchet didn't look convinced and walked up to the berth, picking up Miko's containers in one hand and the back of her shirt between two servos of the other. As soon as he touched her, the human began kicking and yelling at him.

"Ow! Ratchet, put me down! Lemme go!" When that tactic failed, the girl started screaming. "Bulkhead!"

This needed to be stopped. The youngling hadn't done anything wrong. Skyquake's engine growled and his processors were emerged suddenly in a memory. This memory was from much, much farther back in his database.

_He was standing behind a blue and gold youngling. His spark seemed drawn to this youngling and they spoke in each other's minds. The blue youngling showed no signs of fear, yet somehow he knew that this youngling was terrified and angry._

_His own arm was hurting and he was upset about something. Someone had just stolen his..._

The memory was garbled and incomplete, like a puzzle that was mostly put together, but still had pieces missing.

_... Whatever it was, it was important to him. He peeked around the other youngling and saw several older mechs closing in on them. Their armor was patched and didn't match, and each one of them held sharp weapons in their hands. They were much larger than he and the blue youngling._

_The biggest one laughed cruelly, brandishing his scimitar. There was nowhere to run. "Hello, little mechs... remember us?"_

_"How could we forget you?" The blue one mocked, his courage radiating through their minds. "You smell so bad... My olfactory sensors haven't recovered from the last time we met."_

_Emboldened, he added to the other mech's mocking. "Yeah, we've been in waste pipes cleaner than you!"_

_The larger mech's gang started laughing before his angry glare silenced them. The leader growled and reached over the blue and gold youngling's helm to pick him up by the neck armor. He yelped in pain. "Lemme go! Let. Me. Go!"_

_"'Quake!" The blue mechling yelled. "Put him down! Pick on someone your own size."_

_The mismatched mech twirled the blade around several times and pouted in a falsely innocent tone. "Now what would be the fun in that?" He sneered. "No, why don't we see just how many more ways your spark can split, eh?"_

**During Skyquake's Glitch-out/Memory**

Ratchet held the insubordinate child between his thumb and forefinger, her paints in his other hand. The murderer was growling in the restraints, stretching them as far as he could. Miko kicked and squealed in his grip. She had no idea of the unforgivable crimes committed by the mech now covered in her artwork.

Humans were too soft: fragile. Especially younglings. She needed to stay away from the Decepticon killer.

He was about to set the girl down outside of med-bay when he heard a loud cracking sound. Miko's kicking stopped and she went slightly limp in his hold.

"Awesome…" She breathed as she stared behind his back.

Ratchet turned around slowly just in time to see an army green blur and hear his fearsome bellow. The medic ducked out of the way and the enraged Decepticon painted in neon crashed into the frosted glass, smashing through it and landing on his hands in the main chamber. Bulkhead and Bumblebee rushed over to investigate the noise.

Quickly the medic shoved Miko under the medical berth and locked optics with her for a moment. His engine growled threateningly. "So help me… If you move a single _cell_ away from this berth, I will tie you to it for the rest of your short human life."

The way she grinned up ever-so-innocently at him made Ratchet positive that she wasn't going to pay attention to a word he said. With a long sigh, he stood up to face the one who killed Prowl. The jet had regained his pedes and was charging towards him again, shouting.

"- last time we met… Lemme go! Let. Me. Go!"

Ratchet frowned slightly. The green mech's words were childish and made little sense. Why… His musings were cut short as the Decepticon's huge fist collided with his face. The Autobot medic blinked several times at the pain, trying to see through the stars floating in his vision. Energon started oozing from his lip

For less than an astro-second, Ratchet's gaze landed on his attacker's optics. The ruby red optics were dull, partially dimmed as if… the medic's own optics lit up at the revelation. As if the Decepticon were in recharge! He was sleep-walking. Something must have triggered a mental glitch-out in Skyquake's new, unsynced processor; possibly a memory of some sort, thus explaining the unusual words.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee rushed in just then and lunged at the prisoner simultaneously, only succeeding in knocking Skyquake off balance before the two warriors crashed into each other and landed slightly dazed on the floor next to the Decepticon.

Ratchet rolled his optics impatiently as Bulkhead groaned lowly. Klutz. "Take the Decepticon to the brig before anything _else_ is destroyed." He snapped after resisting the urge to just brain the lot of them.

In spite of the fact that he knew the young girl was going to disobey, Ratchet nearly blew a fuse when he caught sight of Miko. She was standing no more than two meters away from where Skyquake had tripped and fallen. Her little pink cell-phone was out and held up. Photos. Again. The medic pressed his servos to the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I _thought_ I told you to _stay put_."

Skyquake gasped as the memory ceased abruptly. So much of it hadn't made sense. Who was the blue youngling? What had the gang leader mean by '_more_ ways his spark could split'?

"Medic! Put the human sparkling down!" He roared as soon as he remembered what had been going on.

"Uh... any clue what he's talking about?" Someone asked. He felt his arm jerk up slightly as another person shrugged. A strange beeping came from next to him, the sound resembling a cyber-cuckoo.

That was when Skyquake realized that he wasn't in med-bay. He looked around, confused. Now he was in a hallway. A large olive green mech was gripping his left forearm and a smaller yellow mech was on the other side. He was taller than both of them were.

His hands were cuffed behind his back and the colorful paint on his chassis was gone. He didn't know where he was or where he was going. He didn't remember getting here.

Skyquake frowned. "Where-? How?"

**"The Hatchet said to take you to the brig." **The yellow one informed him as they started walking again.

At Skyquake's puzzled expression, the green one explained, "He means Ratchet; the medic. You went berserk and attacked him, remember?"

"... No."

The green jet said no more after that and neither did his guards. Once he was safely secured in a prison cell, the two Autobots left. Soon the base was silent and Skyquake was left to delve into the murky depths of his mind. He needed to remember who he was.

**Present. Onboard the Nemesis. Bridge.**

"Soundwave! Where have _you_ been?" Starscream shouted impatiently. "I did not give you permission to leave. Come here and fix this drone, it's malfunctioning _again_."

Soundwave glared at the whiny Air Commander through his visor. The fool actually thought he was in command. When Lord Megatron awoke, the Seeker would be dealt with. Until then, he must bide his time and allow Starscream to live.

He approached silently and examined the drone in question. He could sense its pain and confusion. It was the one designated Backfire. An accurate designation. It was walking into the wall, taking a step back and repeating the action. At this point, its visor had come off, and its faceplates were hammered into a flat, blank slate. Backfire had likely been slamming its face into the wall for the whole two rotations that Soundwave had been absent.

The solution was simple. Soundwave calmly pressed a tiny, near-invisible button just below the drone's helm. Backfire ceased. The facial damage was irreparable. A blind, faceless Vehicon was useless; merely a drain on Energon. Silently he ordered a crew of Vehicons to dispose of the carcass.

Starscream huffed. "Well, did you find anything useful on your unauthorized excursion?"

Soundwave showed none of his irritation, instead showing an image of his lieutenant, Terabyte. He held up the data chip she had slipped to him during the battle. Ignoring the Seeker, Soundwave walked to his console and inserted the chip.

Her encryptions were well organized; the coding structured excellently, though nowhere near his level. He tore the codes apart with ease, and in a few klicks the report appeared onscreen. The report was tidy, succinct, and precise; the lieutenant's work was always a prime example of his expectations from those in his department.

Starscream mumbled under his breath as he read the report to himself. Finally, the Seeker stood back. "Excellent... Your infiltrator is doing well... The Autobots will soon be at our mercies." Starscream laughed harshly. "That is, if we had any."

Soundwave gestured to the husk of Backfire. The Vehicons were loading the carcass into a mining cart; Backfire would continue to serve the Decepticon cause in the form of spare parts. However, Vehicon numbers were decreasing; too many were falling in battle. Their army was shrinking.

Starscream scowled. "Yes, I know." He snapped. "Begin cloning the remaining Vehicons. When we learn the location of the Autobot base, I want an army ready to destroy them."


	20. Unmarked

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 20**

**Unmarked**

_She had just finished her shift. She had read the memo saying that there was a new commander in Kaon. He had apparently just transferred from a long term, top-secret mission in Kolkular. _

_Yes, she had read the memo; but did she pay much attention to it? No. They got memos like that all the time. So naturally, she didn't read it thoroughly, and missed the rather important note in small lettering at the bottom, which stated just who he actually was._

_As usual, the corridors were mostly empty with only a few mechs and femmes passing by occasionally. She walked with determination towards the huge jet she knew was Skyquake._

_He would always wait for her to come in from her shift so that he could take his fuel with her. At first, he had tried to pretend that he only sat with her because she was at his usual table – which she was – but after a while, she experimented with her suspicions._

_She sat at a different table. It was a simple experiment really, but it worked. Skyquake had gone straight to the table she was at, his own table forgotten. After that, a silent agreement was made and they both would wait for the other so that they could share their breaks._

_When she reached the mech, she was slightly puzzled by his new paint job, but didn't think too much of it. After all, just last orn she'd done the same. Walking up to him, she laid her hand lightly on his arm. She also lowered her usually ever-present battle mask. She always kept it down around Skyquake; no one else._

"_Hey mech. Sorry I'm a little late, Shift wanted me to help him with the filing. Ready for your Energon? I assume you want a little bit of copper in it as usual?"_

_Skyquake ignored her, but she was used to his silence in public. He didn't like to act himself around others; there was an impenetrable wall that only a select few could get past. She was one of those few, but he still rarely opened up in public areas._

_When he didn't move to one of the tables though, she got a little worried. The little femme brought two cubes of Energon with copper flakes in his and silver in her own over to where Skyquake was standing and passed him his Energon, lowering her mask again as she did so._

"_So... What's with the new paint job? I personally liked the old one better." She commented, looking him over critically._

"_You will address me with the proper respect, femme. And my paint job has not been altered." _

"_Is this one of your jokes? Have I just completely missed it?" She asked smiling. It wouldn't be the first time she didn't get one of his jokes. She didn't miss it often, but occasionally his humor would just fly over her head._

_The mech continued to work on his datapad, sipping at the Energon she'd brought him. Normally he didn't ignore her quite so obviously. Normally he would try to ignore her, and she would just know that he really was listening, but this time… Skyquake was just flat out ignoring her._

_She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Really Skyquake? Cut it out, the joke's not funny anymore." A hint of annoyance tinged her voice._

_"I am not Skyquake." He stated blandly, still tapping away on the pad._

_Terabyte laughed softly and examined the jet closely. She grinned up at the towering mech. At her tallest, she only stood a foot above his waist. "Right... New paint job, new persona? Still, you've had your laugh, now cut it out already."_

_The jet finally looked up at her with cold optics. The color was just slightly... off... "Specialist Terabyte! If you do not address me properly and continue such improper pestering of your superiors, I shall call security to escort you to the brig until you've learned. Understood?"_

_Her mouth hung in a silently whispered 'Oh' as the dark-colored spy tried to process that. Golden optics blinked several times before she recovered slightly. Her battle mask snapped into place faster than ever before as realization struck her like an anvil. _

_"You really aren't Skyquake, are you?" She asked quietly as she considered all the possible consequences of her mistake. "Sir."_

_He shook his blue and gold helm firmly. "I am Dreadwing. Skyquake is my brother."_

_She frowned minutely. Skyquake never mentioned that he had a twin. That was a rather important piece of information to neglect telling her... "Yes sir. My apologies sir, I will just... um... go now."_

_Still clutching her Energon cube, the two-wheeler very nearly ran back to her lab. She checked in for work half a groon early, her break all but forgotten._

Terabyte paced back and forth in the hallway, glad to have a fully functioning sensory relay again. She'd come out of her quarters that morning only for Optimus to give her orders to remain in the hallway while all of the Autobots held a council. It bothered her; not knowing what they were discussing.

She hadn't even gotten her morning Energon yet. Her tanks were at thirty-eight percent, but she'd be alright. The night before had been long and painful. Repairing broken sensory networks was a rather difficult task to perform on one's self, though her pride had not allowed her to request assistance. She had several sore spots on her face where she'd poked herself with the tools.

Optics narrowing, the femme glanced up at the cameras in the corners and started pacing again. The Autobots' meeting was taking too long. What were they talking about? A few klicks ago their voices had been raised to the point that she could almost hear, but all she'd gathered was that they were arguing over something.

Now the room they were in was shrouded in a disturbing silence. She slowed suddenly at the end of the hall closest to the brig. A familiar sound was coming from the prison cells. A low voice falteringly humming a tune... it was a simple marching song, like the kind taught to young cadets in their first orns of training.

Terabyte frowned. When had Skyquake been moved to the brig? How long had he-

"Terabyte." Optimus's voice rumbled to her, effectively cutting off her contemplations.

She turned around with her helm dipped respectfully. "Prime."

"We have reached a decision... it is regarding your place among our ranks."

Her spark rate doubled as all the possible meanings of that statement flooded her processor. She must have been discovered. What had she messed up on? Would they imprison her again? Or would they just find a way to disp-

"Please follow me to med-bay; Ratchet is ready to begin the procedure." Optimus said, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

Terabyte followed the Prime, her armor slightly clamped and her whole frame trembled. Procedure? What kind of procedure? Was this how they would end her? How very Autobot... they were just going to off her without even telling her why. And they'd smile kindly at her as they led her to her slaughter.

Her fear melted as she walked behind the towering scarlet Autobot. If the Autobots were going to terminate her, she could take comfort in knowing that she died for a good cause. And she could be with her family again. She was going to the Well of Allsparks, to her friends and family.

When they entered the med-bay, Ratchet motioned to her to lay down on the berth. She obeyed, though her armor shrank a little closer to her form. The steel medical berth felt even colder than normal.

Ratchet looked at her, his face neutral. "This procedure may be moderately painful. Are you ready?"

Her gaze flicked over to the tool in his hand. It looked like a precision welder. In the medic's other hand was a small metal square... carefully painted to the color of her belt-plate? As she considered the medic's question, Terabyte swallowed down a brief rush of terror and nodded slowly.

The medic nodded firmly and approached where she lay on the berth. Instinctively, the spy shrunk away from the medic's touch. Ratchet scowled impatiently. "You are aware of the procedure?"

Terabyte shook her helm fearfully. "N-no, Medic."

He growled, frustrated. "Prime! You didn't brief her?"

Optimus's optics widened slightly before he recovered his 'Prime' face. "The matter slipped my processor, I apologize Terabyte. We have agreed that you have proved yourself to have truly denounced the Decepticon ways."

Ratchet narrowed his optics at his leader for a moment before turning back to her. "So I'm going to remove that accursed symbol from your chassis."

Terabyte's lip-plates curled up in a silent snarl. Now they would carve out her pride and honor. For the Decepticon cause. "Will I be receiving the Autobot insignia then?"

The medic brandished his torch as if considering using it on her. "You haven't earned that honor, 'C-"

"Ratchet..." Prime interrupted in mild warning.

Ratchet backed down and, glancing at her first, began the procedure. He neglected to provide painkiller. Her frame went stiff as she forcibly prevented herself from showing any signs of pain. Inwardly she writhed against the fiery burning sensation blooming from her abdomen where the medic sliced out a square of her outer-most plating.

She bit her glossa to block a small whine. The medic was being anything but gentle as he worked. Branding was nowhere near as painful as removing an insignia, even when done normally.

When the procedure was finished, Terabyte couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. Her whole frame relaxed for a second before she flared up her armor.

Slowly, the black and Prussian blue femme sat up and inspected the medic's work. Grudgingly, Terabyte admitted – within the confines of her processor – that the medic was very good at his job. She couldn't even distinguish where the weld mark was. It was as if the symbol she'd worn had simply been erased without trace. It felt like a part of her had been erased.

Terabyte restrained a shudder. Would this mission ever end? Or would it merely end her? The Autobots were trying so hard to erase all that she knew herself to be, but she must stand strong. She must not waver. So demanded her duty.

**One Orn Later**

The Prussian blue and black spy lay on her berth, she being alone in the small quarters that she shared with Arcee. Many thoughts weighed on her processors as she tried to reorganize her mind and plan the future of her mission.

"Why did I save Cliffjumper though?" The femme asked herself quietly, speaking her thoughts into the silence. The mech was an Autobot. Of course she'd planned on saving him to reinforce her cover, but risking her life? Nearly taking a knife for him? That definitely hadn't been part of her plans…

Her armor was relaxed, though her mask remained in place. Discarding that thought process; Terabyte fingered the smooth, blank piece of armor on her waist. The beautiful symbol that was her pride, joy, and honor: removed. She growled lowly. "_Autobots." _Always destroying any good that they find.

Growling at the thought, she sat in silence for a moment before shrugging. "Only temporary, soon I will again wear that glorious symbol. I've already convinced them that my spark is as 'pure' as theirs."

Not that that was saying much. The spy laughed darkly. She was making good progress and the Autobots were beginning to accept her. Soon enough they would grant her that despicable mark: the mark of an Autobot. Then, entrusted with the location of their base, the spy would have Decepticon fleets raining justice down on them.

"Cybertronians will at last be free from the tyranny of the Autobots and the insignia under which so many have been slain."

Terabyte wasn't sure just why this didn't bring the light to her spark that she'd so long looked forward to, ever since the destruction of her home. That should have made her happier. So distracted by this, she didn't hear the silent click of the door opening and closing.

"Twenty-six thousand, nine-hundred and forty-two." The spy said suddenly.

"Twenty-s- ...what?"

Hearing the intruding voice, Terabyte's armor flared out immediately and she leapt to her pedes, just barely holding her blade in. "Arcee! What are you doing here? How long have you been there?"

Her spark was racing. How much of that had the Autobot heard? How much of that had she spoken aloud? Had she just incriminated herself without realizing it? Terabyte forced the shocked expression off her faceplates, deciding to play innocent until she had more of an idea of how deep she was in trouble.

The pink and blue femme's optics narrowed in obvious displeasure. "Relax, I just walked in. And in case you'd forgotten, these are my quarters."

Terabyte considered her possible options before nodding in mock meekness. "I apologize Arcee, you startled me and I reacted rashly. It won't happen again."

"Accepted." Arcee said as she slipped one datapad into her desk and pulled out a different one. She sat down on her berth and the room was silent again for several klicks before the Autobot looked up curiously. "So. Twenty-whatever thousand?"

The spy frowned at the roof for a moment as she reformed the interrupted thought line. That thought was what had troubled her spark. "Twenty-six thousand, nine-hundred and forty-two. That's how many soldiers, miners, and technicians fight for the Decepticons. For the Autobots fight a mere seven, and that's counting Wheeljack and even myself. How has the War continued so long, if you've been outnumbered so greatly?"

"Dunno." The Autobot femme stared at her datapad for so long afterwards that Terabyte wondered if that was the only answer she'd get. Finally, she spoke up again. "I suppose it's because we just keep going. We care about each other and our ideals and we fight fiercely for them. We fight for a better life, a prosperous home, and most of all: we fight for a future free of fear."

Terabyte scowled inwardly. She was only being told what she wanted to hear, not the truth. She knew what the Autobots were really like. Sparkless murderers with no cares for life.

Aloud she whispered, "A worthy cause. I don't know what to fight for any more though. I fought for my family, my home, and my people, but look around... The Wreckers killed my family vorns ago, destroyed my home, and now my people are scattered through the galaxy with no world left to return to. What is the point of this war? Everything we fought for is long dead."

Arcee stared at her in... Shock? Admiration? Pity? Terabyte couldn't tell and didn't really care. Never had she been so doubtful of her cause. She was in enemy lines, gathering intel with the intent of their destruction, and all the while the Autobots were being nicer to her than even the Decepticons had been.

At the same moment, both femmes reached their own conclusions. The spy's resolve hardened and she again swept her doubts away, or at least out of her thoughts for the time being. She knew where her duty lay and she would heed it. The Decepticons were relying on her.

The Autobot got up and sat down beside her on the berth, resting one hand 'comfortingly' on Terabyte's shoulder. "There is always a reason to fight for what's right. And no matter the odds, right will always be here and so will wrong, so we fight for what we know's right. There will always be hope to lead the way. Even in our darkest hour."

Terabyte's spark twinged slightly. She shouldn't need an Autobot to remind her of her duty. She couldn't afford to waver, especially here.

**Meanwhile. Autobot Brig.**

_He was soaring through the crisp air, thrills of pleasure and adrenaline throbbing through his frame. He sent a mental wink to the blue and gold jet flying beside him with one of the non-fliers perched on his cockpit looking rather ill. _

_All around him was a Decepticon fleet, each jet carrying a grounder. They were about to 'drop in' on the Autobots. It would be a victorious battle; he could feel it. This Energon refinery would soon be in Decepticon hands._

_There was something else about this battle... He couldn't think what it was._

_But right now, all he cared about was feeling the wind under his wings, watching the world make way for his passing, and the warrior laying on his back, hanging on just a little too tightly to the sensitive edges of his wings. _

_Grinning inwardly, the large green jet swerved into sharp barrel roll, rolling several times before pulling straight. The mech on the blue and gold jet's back let out a weak groan before purging all over the jet and two other mechs below him._

_He hardly noticed the groans coming from his troops though. All he was aware of was the frightened squeal of his passenger and the beautiful sound of her laughter. He never noticed the tiny dents in his wings where she'd gripped them even tighter during the spin._

_/Sky! How do you ever manage it?/ He read her tidy compact little glyphs contentedly, her exhilaration seeping into each glyph. /If I could fly... Oh! I'd never land!/_

He was about to send a reply when the memory melted into another, maybe only a groon or two later.

_He was firing a huge machine gun on the enemy. They were already defeated, yet he and the others around him fired on them anyway. The inhabitants of the moon couldn't be allowed to escape. Those were his orders; that was his duty. _

_He turned around and with a swing of his gun, decapitated an Autobot mech that had snuck up behind him. Where was Terabyte? He'd been keeping an optic on her throughout the battle, but she was nowhere to be seen._

_Suddenly a roar came from the storage shed destroyed in the bombing. It was Terabyte. Ignoring the life-En splattered on him and the soil of the moon, the soldier fought his way towards the shout. If she was hurt..._

_Gun raised and ready, the mech burst in only to find Terabyte seemingly alone in the room. She was on her knees, one knee on an Autobot's chassis. The golden dagger he'd gotten for her came down repeatedly into the mech's empty spark chamber. Coolant was streaming from her beautiful gold optics and stained her uncovered faceplates._

_"For Protihex!" He heard her whisper brokenly. "For my family! My people!"_

_His spark ached to see his small friend in such a condition. She just kept stabbing and stabbing the long-dead Wrecker. A spark-rending keen came from her engine as for the first time since that horrible day, Terabyte mourned her home._

_He ran to her side and knelt beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders both in comfort and in an effort to pull her away from this senseless mauling of the dead. She went still, but her frame was stiff and rigid as she continued to stare at the heap of scrap that was once the Wrecker called Pyro._

_As he consolingly rubbed her arm, the green jet could feel her vents heaving and shuddering with the small femme's sobs. His spark reached out to her, wanting to comfort her in any way he could. _

_The battle outside no longer mattered to him. His duty was with the Decepticons, but above even that was his duty to Terabyte. She needed him far more than the army ever would._

_When at last the two-wheeler's cries stilled, she looked down at her delicate servos, stained with the life-En of the Autobot. With a shaky gasp, the femme collapsed against him, burying her face in his chest. Her coolant streamed down his chassis as she wept._

_Holding her close he gently rubbed her upper back in consolation. He didn't know how long he held her like that, nor did he care. All he knew was that he was there to comfort her as she wept for all the wrongs she'd seen in this pointless war._

_When her tears had subsided slightly, Terabyte looked at her hands again then met his optics with her own wide, golden ones. She didn't move from where she knelt beside him. _

_Her voice was nearly inaudible as she whispered, "Sky... What have I done?"_

He bolted upright on his berth, waking once more from a memory-filled recharge. In the time he'd spent in prison, Skyquake had remembered so much of his life. There was so much war and death in his past. There was still so much he hadn't remembered too. It kind of made him wonder just how old he was. Right now, he felt ancient.

Terabyte hadn't visited him, a fact which was very disappointing. With all of this time, the mech could tell that his processors were recovering even faster, resulting in the regaining of his memories.

He was mystified by the blue and gold jet that spoke in his mind. He was in so many of his memories, especially his childhood. It seemed that they were always together, yet Skyquake had no recollection of who the mech was.

Even more curious was the fact that Skyquake hadn't just forgotten, but there was simply no file, remembered or not, identifying him. The things that he knew but couldn't remember, Skyquake could tell had been forgotten. He could sense the blocked memories.

Drinking the Energon one of the Autobots had left for him, Skyquake could already feel his mind slipping back into a restorative dream state once more. With nothing better to do in the claustrophobically small space, Skyquake welcomed the embrace of his memories.


	21. Deus Ex Machina

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 21**

**Deus Ex Machina**

_Her optics were wide, her spark beat was rapid, and each pulse seemed to crash her spark against her chassis._

_**/Memorandum-Summons/**_

_**Specialist Terabyte,**_

_**Report to Lord Megatron's office promptly at 0900 of the next rotation. Refusal to comply will result in disciplinary action.**_

_**All Hail the Lord Protector.**_

_**/End/**_

_So read the message displayed on her terminal when the femme sat down for her first shift the rotation before. It was now 0857 and she stood outside the throne room/office where their great leader resides. She had no idea why she had been summoned._

_She had worried about it all of yesterday and gotten very little sleep that night. She hadn't gone to her training session either, but that didn't bother her as much as it normally would have. It had been two quartex since Dreadwing's return, and Skyquake had only shown up for their session once in that time. The twin mechs had been stoically silent the whole time, communicating only through their bond. Skyquake's brother also made his antipathy towards her very clear. The small femme was beginning to wonder if perhaps the homecoming of Skyquake's twin meant the ending of their friendship._

_Letting out a long sigh, the spy checked her chronometer again. 0859. Willing her spark to stop beating so hard, the two-wheeler quickly made sure that her frame was unmarked before carefully pushing the colossal door open. She could only barely get it open._

_Before her, silver armor gleaming where he sat majestically in his throne, was the great Lord Protector himself. Maintaining a reverent posture, she rushed to kneel before her leader._

_When he spoke, his voice held a... weary undertone. "Rise, soldier."_

_Doing as she was bidden, the Prussian blue and black femme spoke cautiously, keeping her helm lowered and her voice neutral. "You summoned, my lord?"_

_"Indeed." The warlord was silent for a moment. "Soundwave informed me of your decision to no longer command. You are a skilled spy and an able leader... What reasons did you base this choice upon?"_

_The almost friendly curiosity in his words was unnerving and since she had never before met the mech in person, she was terrified. "I- After the death of one of those serving under my command, it became clear to me that I did- do not possess the leadership skills n-necessary to bring our troops home."_

_Megatron frowned and observed her with narrow optics. "I disagree, young femme. Darkshine was the first casualty under your command, yes? And after her death, you declared yourself unfit for command."_

_She nodded slowly, almost positive of what he was trying to tell her. He was suggesting that her decision was rash and not fully thought out, made in a haze of grief. Maybe he was right, maybe it wasn't a logical choice. But in her spark, she knew it was best._

_"Femme. This is war. Some mechs live, others do not. But you keep fighting." He snarled bluntly, his voice callous to the deaths of which he spoke. "If everyone quit when some mech they knew perished, the enemy will have won without resistance."_

_Fuelled by an unforeseen strength and boldness, she challenged his statement. "And if no one cares for the life any other than himself, our armies will march into death like fools. Those who live would live only because they betrayed their cause. With all due respect Lord Megatron, would you have yourself remembered as the leader of fools and cowards? For if we do not hold life precious, the Decepticons as a whole will be no more than such."_

_Megatron was silent as he considered her words. In the silence, she could feel her courage draining away leaving only apprehension. Had she gone too far? After what seemed like an eon had passed, the silver mech spoke quietly._

_"Well said, femme. It's a shame really, you would have made a strong leader. You have the skill and the strength, yet you lack the spark to bear the burdens of a leader." He sounded disgusted by the weakness. With a wave of his hand the warlord dismissed her with a final order. "Report to medical. The good doctor wishes to test a... __**theory**__."_

"-ergon pulse from the nation of Greece." Ratchet said from where he stood watching his terminal. Only just having walked in behind Arcee, she missed the beginning of the medic's statement. "An ancient city. Quite historic I believe."

Bulkhead hummed thoughtfully. "Ancient Greece huh? Oh... field trip!"

Terabyte examined the Wrecker carefully, weighing her options. The opportunity was too good to miss. "Sir, request permission to accompany you in investigating."

The mech cocked his helm and shrugged, glancing down at Miko. "Dunno. What d'you think, Miko?"

She grinned. "If two's a crowd, three's a party!"

Terabyte followed a few steps behind the Wrecker and his charge, her weapons charged as she stood alert. Her golden optics bored into the mech's broad back as she glared at him. Disposing of the Autobot would have been so much easier if the human had stayed. The child's adoration for Bulkhead was misplaced, but the spy was still loath to outright slay the mech in front of her. She would never do that to a youngling.

Miko turned around and gestured for Terabyte to hurry up. She and the Wrecker were standing on the edge of a small precipice. "C'mon, slow poke! You're lagging!"

The femme complied and stood next to the Wrecker, keeping her weapons drawn. The human girl looked up at Bulkhead with one hand on her hip. "So what're we doing in Greco-ville?"

Bulkhead shot Terabyte a sly smirk. "We're scouting Energon. _You're_ doing research for your history report."

In spite of herself, the spy smirked under her mask. That was something her sire would have done, and had on several occasions. She ignored the quiet voice in her mind questioning why the Wrecker was taking such care of the girl. She seemed to ignore that little voice a lot lately.

Miko harrumphed, glaring up at her guardian. She pointed at the green mech as she exclaimed disbelieving. "You punked me, Bulk? Not cool."

Terabyte glanced over the mech's shoulder to look at the rapidly beeping scanner in his hand.

"The signal is strong." She pointed out quietly, scanning the area carefully.

Bulkhead grunted in agreement. "An excavation site."

The pink-haired girl stared at the piles of dirt in front of them. Catching sight of the equipment she hadn't before noticed, Miko muttered in a slightly awed tone. "Whoa..."

The Wrecker shrugged. "I know construction." Consulting his scanner again, Bulkhead groaned. "According to this, humans hit Energon veins and they don't even know it."

Not quite listening, Terabyte's gaze was snared by a stone slab with carvings etched into its surface. Depicted in the center was a primitive human, holding up in one hand a glowing orb. Around him, many other humans bowed before the orb. She frowned.

"Sir..." Nudging the Wrecker's elbow, Terabyte pointed at the fresco. "Is that an-"

He rubbed his helm with one hand as he frowned at the image. "But why would ancient Greeks paint an Energon Harvester?"

Miko pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of it. "You know what that round thing is? You're smarter than you let on."

Pursing her lips, Terabyte took a mental photo of the fresco and compressed it into a short databurst. As soon as she got a chance, if she ever did, she needed to send this to her commander.

"But dumber than he looks." The navy spy spun around to look at the stranger. Beside her Bulkhead's engine growled and he shifted to an offensive stance, "Breakdown."

The mech appeared to have an automotive vehicle mode, and bore the Decepticon insignia on his steel blue chassis, but Terabyte had never seen him before. He held a silver hammer in his hands. 'Breakdown' chuckled. "Miss me?"

The Wrecker next to her growled again. "Like rust in my undercarriage."

"You know this lunkhead?" Miko asked as she glared – in a way she no doubt thought was menacing – at the new Decepticon. Terabyte scanned her database for the mech. She hadn't ever seen more than a light mentioning of him. He usually acted as little more than Knockout's shadow.

"We have a history." Bulkhead muttered as he continued to watch the steel blue mech.

Breakdown smirked. "And _you_ have a pet." Picking up a marble column, the Decepticon hefted it over his shoulder. "Does it play catch?"

The spy watched in horror for a nanosecond after the pillar was thrown, her processors automatically calculating its trajectory. Ignoring Bulkhead, Terabyte dove for Miko and curled around the human, using her own frame to shield her.

She felt the debris hit her back, but didn't move until she was sure it was safe. The Prussian blue two-wheeler looked up just in time to see a steel blue jeep kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake.

Standing up, Terabyte turned to the Autobot. He was covered in dust and under him was the crumbled remains of the fresco. Bulkhead gave her grateful nod, ran a hand over his helm and grunted, giving Miko a rueful smile. "Told you I'm good at breaking things."

The girl held up her phone and grinned at her guardian, not seeming to have noticed that he'd done nothing to protect her. "I've always got your back Bulk. Got us a picture... of the picture."

Terabyte turned around and took a few steps away from the Wrecker and his charge. Scowling at the dusty Greek landscape, the femme snarled. "You're welcome, kid."

"It is indeed an Energon Harvester…" Optimus Prime confirmed as they all examined an enlarged copy of Miko's photo. It was slightly blurry but Ratchet was able to clear the image much more than normal human technology would have been able to. "A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove raw Energon from any source."

Miko tilted her head and a smile spread itself across her face as she came to her own conclusion. "Greek gods knew Autobots?"

The Prime shook his helm with a smile in his optics, though his faceplates remained solemn. "No. The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages."

Terabyte nodded, having read about similar occurrences on multiple primitive planets. "This fresco was probably a message to any Cybertronians that came across it, indicating that a harvester was hidden somewhere on Earth."

Jack leaned against the railing and frowned. "Uh, Optimus, if the harvester removes Energon from _anything_ and you all have Energon pumping inside you…"

The Prime nodded. "In Decepticon hands, the harvester would be a devastating weapon."

The navy and black spy felt her spark constrict painfully. The Energon harvester would decimate the Decepticon forces if the Autobots got it first. She wasn't sure how she'd manage it, but she must find a way to keep it out of Autobot hands. The amount of death it would bring was too much, even if she was forced to choose between it or her mission.

"See?" Miko told Bulkhead with a friendly punch. "You were a genius to total that painting."

Arcee smirked, shifting where she stood in front of Terabyte. "Miko's not wrong; How can the 'Cons find the harvester without the fresco?"

Raf looked up from where he was seated in front of his laptop, a little to the side of where everyone was gathered. "With high-speed internet." He started tapping at the keys on his computer. "If you do an image search for "Greek gods" and "golden orb", this pops up." Raf pointed to an image of a statue holding the Energon harvester in one hand. "It's in a museum."

The pink and blue Autobot scowled at the image. "That's the real deal?" She turned to Ratchet. "Contact Agent Fowler."

The only answer came from an automated message from the agent. "You've reached special agent William Fowler. I'm currently on an _intensive_ training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday."

Ratchet growled, "I hate talking to machines."

Optimus Prime's next statement came as a shock to Terabyte, though she ought to have known better. The Autobots' acting had apparently been getting to her more than she wished to admit. "Without Agent Fowler's direct aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own."

The eldest human boy held his hands up and took a few steps away from the Prime. "W-whoa, whoa, whoa. 'Confiscate'? As in: _steal_ museum property?"

Raf frowned. "That sounds… illegal."

Terabyte smiled under her mask. At least two of the humans hadn't been completely brainwashed by the Autobots. Maybe she could at least delay the Autobots, and give Soundwave a little more time to get to it first. "It is."

"So we're going to rob the museum?" Cliffjumper asked, just a bit too excitedly. "And just the other day, you were reaming me for a couple tickets."

"I do not wish to break human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly." The Prime answered calmly. Of course, his words were all empty. The Autobots couldn't care less about human law, they just played along with it so that they could have the Earth government's assistance.

Jack chuckled nervously. "Okay… n-no offense, Optimus, but 'covertly' and 'giant alien robots' don't really go together." He paused for a while before continuing. "Museums are public. A-and they have guards and security cameras-"

Miko cut him off quickly, reaching over to push her finger right up to his face. "No problem! We're small enough to sneak in. And _we_ are not a government secret."

The spy stifled the urge to face-palm. Miko was turning into a full-on Autobot. She was about to protest, but instead only looked over in surprise as Bulkhead did so first, his voice surprisingly sincere. "Miko… I'm not sure that's wise."

Optimus laid a hand on Bulkhead's shoulder. "But it may be our best option, Bulkhead. The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons."

Terabyte wanted to scream that that was exactly what was needed, but instead spoke up with a primarily neutral tone. "With all due respect, Prime, do we really have the right to send human children to fight our battles? This is not their war, nor should they be made criminals to gain a tactical advantage."

"I understand your concerns, but this discussion is over. Our human allies have volunteered of their own free will. No matter the risks, the Energon harvester must not be allowed into enemy hands." The Prime's tone made it obvious that he would tolerate no more arguments. Terabyte felt a shiver run down her struts.

Throughout the planning, the rest of the rotation until first night cycle, and the trip to the museum, Terabyte remained silent. While the Autobots spent the wait brooding over the coming mission, the spy was plotting a way to prevent the Autobots from getting the harvester without blowing her cover. There was also the matter of the Wrecker…

Try as she might, Terabyte was unable to think of a solution to either problem, but rather ended up deciding that she would simply have to bide her time and be prepared for any opportunities that might arise. For the remainder of that time, she worked on compiling her next report. Once again she was amazed by how quickly time had passed. Just one more orn would mark her third quartex with the Autobots. In one way, she couldn't believe that it had been so long, yet in another way, she felt as if it had been forever.

**First Night Cycle**

Terabyte pulled up towards the front of the museum, parking in alt-mode next to Bulkhead, facing towards the city. The Autobot leader was watching the front of the museum. Opening a comm. channel to all of them, Optimus began relaying orders.

_/Autobots, confirm position./_

Arcee and Cliffjumper checked in first, Cliffjumper sending a cheeky, _/Westward, ho!/_

_/East side, ready./ _Bumblebee sent dutifully, followed by Bulkhead, _/Southside covered./_

_/Good. Maintain your guard./ _Using his link to the Autobot base, Prime now spoke to the kids. _/Jack, Miko, Rafael, I will have a clear view of you. Once you secure the harvester, I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base. Optimus out./_

Terabyte had her headlights off and she and the Wrecker sat silent in the pitch-black of night. She transformed silently, extending her dagger and facing Bulkhead. He shook his helm slowly and commed her. _/Shh… Prime said to stay put. I don't like this any more than you do, but orders are orders./_

She didn't answer, or even show any signs of having received his message. Instead, she took a small step towards him, the yellow glow of her dagger and biolights illuminating her masked face. Alone with the Wrecker in the dead of night, Terabyte would not likely ever have a better chance than now. The Wrecker would pay for his crimes.

_/Terabyte! What are you doing? You'll give away our position./ _Bulkhead warned her as he backed up a little bit and transformed.

Just then, the sound of electricity and the screeching of tires broke both Cybertronians' attentions. Sharing a glance, they transformed and sped to the front of the building where the noise had come from. When they reached the front, Terabyte caught a glimpse of a red car speeding off down the road with the same blue jeep from earlier that rotation.

Jack ran up with Raf at his side and bent over, panting. "The 'Cons have the harvester! And security has Miko!"

Within the confines of her mind, Terabyte let out a sigh of relief. The Decepticons had the harvester. Her people were safe.

Bulkhead growled. "What? I'm going in after her."

Optimus stopped him with no more than a reproving look. "Bulkhead, Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm."

With that, the Prime called for a bridge and they returned to the base. Once they were all there and Ratchet had been satisfied that they were all still functioning, Optimus gathered them all together once again.

"In all likelihood, Starscream will use the harvester to gather as much Energon as quickly as he can from the planet's otherwise unmineable Energon deposits." The Prime stated.

Ratchet picked up almost seamlessly from where his leader had left off. "I've calculated that the most likely location for Starscream to go to first would be right… here." The medic pointed at a tiny red dot on the map. It was near Egypt in the Sahara Desert. The sand made it too inconvenient for mining operations.

"We must approach with extreme caution." The Prime continued in grave tones. "Starscream will not hesitate to turn the harvester on any one of us. Bulkhead, it is best that you remain here."

The green mech's optics lit up. "So I can bust Miko out of the museum?"

"So you can help Ratchet." Optimus smiled reassuringly at the Wrecker. "You may be Miko's guardian, but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains her best option."

That said, the Autobot leader took Arcee, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee through the ground bridge to Ratchet's calculated destination.

Terabyte raised one optic ridge, her lip-plates pursed in slight annoyance. "I suppose that means I am to remain here. Is there any way in which I may assist you, medic?"

"Be quiet." The red and white bot snapped tetchily.

A few minutes later, Agent Fowler's answering machine was heard again, repeating the same words as before. "You have reached special agent William Fowler. I'm currently on an _intensive_ training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday."

"Still no answer." Ratchet unnecessarily informed Bulkhead.

The Wrecker's engine growled in frustration. "Fowler's probably lounging around some poolside cabana." With an exasperated grunt, Bulkhead smashed his fist into the medic's welder, effectively pulverizing the tool.

"Aargh! Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet yelled angrily, waving the half-finished replica of the harvester that was in his hand.

"We can free Miko if we can just return that harvester to the museum." Bulkhead said finally.

Terabyte shook her helm, the idea instantly disqualifying itself. "So it can get stolen all over again?"

The olive green Wrecker groaned, turning around and holding his helm. "I am so _dumb_!"

She almost felt sorry for the mech. Almost. She looked up at Jack, who'd moved from where he had been standing next to her and Raf. As usual, she was seated on the stairs. The eldest human spoke up. "So, how _are_ we going to help Miko?"

Ratchet didn't answer for a while, busily poking around inside his golden orb. Finally he looked up. "By returning this _replica _to the museum." He shot a withering glare in Bulkhead's direction, speaking with annoyed emphasis. "The construction of which would be going a whole lot _faster_ if Bulkhead hadn't just _mangled_ my frame welder!"

Jack shrugged, muttering. "We're already trespassers and thieves. Why not add forgery to the list?"

'_Yeah. Why not? It's not like the Autobots actually follow their __**own**__ ideals. Why should the law of __**other**__ worlds be any different?' _Terabyte thought sourly, totally missing the first part of Bulkhead's sudden inspiration.

"-ool he has, he's gonna take the easy route." The Wrecker said excitedly. "Ratch, open a bridge to where we found the fresco. Terabyte, you're with me. We've got a harvester to get back."

Autobot and Decepticon spy stood side by side and watched in horror as Starscream raised the harvester, pointing it directly at the two new Decepticons. They dodged out of the way, only for the unlucky Vehicon behind them to get caught in the harvester's path. The mech screamed, his life-En literally being torn from his frame in a fabulous display of swirling blue lights.

In mere moments the mech's empty husk crashed to the ground, the frame completely drained of all life.

Had she not been in the War as long as she had, Terabyte probably would have purged. Even so, the sight of such a brutally pointless murdering of a fellow Decepticon, for no better reason than to see if he could… It made her ill. Shaking her helm as if to rid herself of the horrid image engraved in her mind, the spy moved forward silently, indicating that the Wrecker follow.

The sound of shattering sliced through the stillness of the night, immediately making their position known to Starscream, Breakdown, and the other mech, who as he turned to face them, Terabyte instantly recognized as Knockout. Turning around, the spy discovered the cause of the sound. Casting her a guilty glance, Bulkhead slowly raised his pede off of the remains of an ancient vessel of some sort. "Oh, scrap."

She sighed. "Ditto."

Knockout approached her slowly, one side of his lip curled in disdain. His voice rolled over her like a poison. "So, Terabyte. You finally betrayed us."

Unable to answer otherwise without revealing her secret to the Autobot currently preoccupied with Breakdown, the spy stayed silent, her only action being to extend her dagger and charge her cannon.

"You see, I knew all along with you." He laughed, pausing for a moment to examine his servos. Vain mech. "It was only a matter of time. You never were a true Decepticon."

Again she remained quiet, now circling the red mech. Warily, she was constantly aware of where his Energon prod was, yet she also tried to appear unconcerned by it. If she looked like she wasn't paying attention, then Knockout would strike overconfidently.

"So how long have you been a traitor? Orns, quartex, vorns?" Knockout sneered his rich, high-class accent twisted in false pity. "They don't seem to trust you yet… how sad."

She snarled, his words stinging her pride. She wasn't a traitor. This was for her cause. The only reason she was with the Autobots was for her cause. "What would you know of loyalty? Or trust? Your only loyalty is to yourself."

The mech's lips split into a grin. "Coming from the femme who just betrayed us. Nice."

With an angry roar, Terabyte lunged at the red Decepticon, unable to allow her loyalty to be insulted any further. Slicing her dagger towards the mech, the spy felt herself smile under her mask as the tip of the blade pulled a long scratch across the perfectly polished chassis. Quick to dodge Knockout's counterattack, she slid back out of range and began circling again.

The vain mech looked down at the scratch for several seconds before he finally let out an enraged hiss. "You. _Scratched. _My. Paint."

Before she could react, the mech was charging towards her at full-speed, Energon prod charged and crackling. Too slow, Terabyte leapt to the side and Knockout pressed the prod into her abdomen. Landing hard on the ground, the small spy could feel her frame twitching uncontrollably as the electricity coursed through her. She let out static-filled yelp as he pressed it deeper into her chassis.

Fiery pain blossomed from where the prod punctured her armor, the agony spreading rapidly through her systems. She couldn't control herself to move, the pain enveloping her thoughts and making any primary functions near impossible. Blackness tinged the edges of her sight and mind as the furious Decepticon medic continued to electrocute her.

Terabyte opened her mouth and with a wild scream, used what little strength she had to swing her pede under her attacker, effectively knocking his pedes out from under him. The Energon prod fell deactivated to the ground beside her.

Rising on shaky pedes, the spy retracted her dagger and glared at the mech. He was attempting to stand up again. Terabyte's engine growled and, vents heaving, she readied herself. Right as the Decepticon medic was halfway standing, she took one step back. Pulling her fist back, Terabyte punched him in the face just as hard as she could.

With a slight wobble, the mech fell back to the ground unconscious. Terabyte shook out her hand and grinned behind her mask. "Now _that's_ what I call a knock out."

After taking several moments to bask in her success, the femme remembered the current battle. Turning around she ran towards Starscream and Bulkhead. Beautifully strange and almost ethereal blue tendrils of light were swirling around the large green Wrecker as he struggled to crawl forward.

She knew that she ought to stop the mech's progress, make him stop approaching the Air Commander. But the lights were so beautiful. So mesmerized by the lethal lights, Terabyte simply stood frozen in her spot, watching. Several meters away, Breakdown stood with a similarly hypnotized expression.

The Wrecker somehow managed to get to his feet. He stumbled forward, purpose clear in his optics. When he finally reached Starscream, Bulkhead raised one hand and grabbed the harvester. The Seeker's optics widened in shock and Terabyte saw his mouth open as he asked a question. She was too far away to hear.

Then Bulkhead punched him in the face and snatched the harvester. Terabyte's whole frame jolted suddenly as if she'd just been pulled out of a trance. Realizing what the Wrecker was about to do, the spy ran at top speed towards him, her cannon charging. As soon as it reached full power, she raised it to fire.

Before she could shoot, the Wrecker crushed the golden orb in his fists. Taking a step back, Bulkhead threw the dented orb high into the sky. Almost out of instinct, Terabyte raised her cannon and blasted the broken remains of the harvester out of the sky. Bulkhead blinked several times, staring first at the ashes now floating down in the moonlight then at her smoking cannon. He gave her a weak thumbs up before swaying unsteadily, the mech crashed to the ground, his frame exhausted from Energon deprivation.

As an afterthought, Terabyte was glad she'd shot the harvester. It no longer appeared as though she'd been aiming at the Wrecker's spark. Which she had been. So many times this day she'd been tempted to break her cover, and very nearly had. But as far as she knew, her cover was intact.

Hearing a ground bridge open, Terabyte looked up to see two things. One was Breakdown speeding out into the desert with Knockout on his back. The other was Team Prime. They flew out of an above-ground portal, transforming mid-air and landing on their pedes, weapons at the ready.

Terabyte stood to attention, smartly saluting the Prime. "Mission accomplished, sir."


	22. Past and Future

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 22**

**Past and Future**

'"_The good doctor wishes to test a… __**theory**__."' As she drove down the corridors to the medical laboratory, she couldn't help but worry. Theories were iffy things, but medical theories were almost always lethal. Just what she needed to improve the orn. A visit to the medic… for an unelaborated experiment._

_Straightening her struts, the small femme entered Knockout's lab, hoping beyond hope that she didn't look as anxious as she really was. _

_Makeshift was in the lab with the red medic, and the two mechs were discussing something. As soon as she walked in, they both instantly went silent. Knockout smiled at her, only increasing her anxiety. Smiles were never a good sign when it came to medics. "Hello Terabyte. Are you ready?"_

_Her jaw stiff, she glanced at her mentor for assurance. "As ready as I'll ever be."_

_Knockout clapped his hands together like an excited sparkling before quickly ushering her and her mentor to the closest medical berths. As soon as they were laid down, the Decepticon medic magnetized the berths, making it impossible for her or her mentor to get up. _

_She winced as a needle was pressed into the gap between two plates of armor on her forearm. Moments later a soft darkness enveloped her mind. _

_Blearily she felt her mind seep into consciousness, interrupting a pleasant dream. She wasn't sure what she'd been dreaming though. As her systems slowly whirred into life, the spy became aware of a foreign presence in her mind. The presence was poking around at a line of code that she didn't realize she possessed._

_For some reason, these discoveries didn't bother her. In fact, she didn't care about anything at the moment. Waves of content were rolling through her processors from the foreign mental presence. Her logic processors lazily came to the conclusion that the mental intruder was Soundwave. He was empathically suppressing any negative thoughts that came to her mind, ensuring that she did not resist his presence. _

'_What'cha doin'?' She thought at him with a mental yawn. The combination of his empathic waves of contentedness and the medic's sleep-drugs made her mental processes slow and dulled, as if she'd overdosed on high grade._

_The mech didn't respond other than to increase the intensity of his happy-waves. She sighed placidly, slipping into a sort of waking sleep. _

_She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but after a while Soundwave left her mind and she began to wake properly. Opening her optics, the femme bolted upright, rushing to examine her frame for any mutations or amputated limbs. Surprisingly, she found nothing amiss._

"_Rise and shine, my little Byte. Time to check out your new upgrade."_

_She frowned at Makeshift. "Upgrade? What did Knockout do? Why was Soundwave in my helm?"_

_The charcoal mech chuckled. "You're a Shifter now."_

_Blinking several times, the Prussian blue two-wheeler processed that information. Instantly, she delved into her programming files and scanned through them until she found the abnormality. "They added a synthetic Shifter code to my systems, along with Shifter CNA… Will it work?"_

_Makeshift shrugged his spiked shoulders. "Let's go find out, shall we?"_

"_Focus, Terabyte, focus!" Makeshift repeated for the umpteenth time. "Capture the image of the drone in your mind's optic…"_

_She heaved a huge sigh and did as he said. When the image was successfully engraved in her mind, the femme nodded._

"_Now, keep focusing on that image, and imagine that you are that drone." He paused until she nodded again. "Now transform. Not into your alt-mode, but make yourself transform into that drone."_

_Concentrating with all her mental capacity, the spy initiated her slightly altered transformation sequence. Her transformation cog ached and strained for a few seconds before she began to feel her frame shift. At the end of the transformation, she sighed deeply, revving her engine in frustration. There she sat… in her vehicle mode. Very much __**not**__ having transformed into the drone. _

_Makeshift growled angrily, throwing his hands up and flaring his armor in and out. They had been trying for two groons with no other results than that. Everyone else that had been training had already gone to their quarters. Without saying a single word to her, the gray Shifter stormed out of the training area, leaving her alone with the lifeless training dummy. _

_The drone stood facing her. It's dull, artificially blue optics seemed to glow brighter than normal as she sat there in the silence. _

_The femme glared at the drone as it seemed to mock her attempts at Shifting. Finally she snapped, "What are you looking at, tin-helm?"_

_Tin-helm. Tin-helm. Tin-helm.__ The room echoed back at her rudely. _

_She snarled at the drone. This was really not her day._

Optimus sat in his office early in the morning, dawn just barely beginning. He sat in his comfortable chair and watched the screen on his desk with attentive optics. A thoughtful frown creased his faceplates. He pressed his servos together as he continued to watch the screen. To anyone else, the Prime appeared to be highly focused on the report typed out in front of him.

But he was not reading the report. In fact, his optics barely saw the screen. His thoughts were focused inward as he consulted his spark and the Matrix within him.

The wisdom of the ancients seemed to whisper to him. A thousand voices all speaking their thoughts together, resulting in an indecipherable murmuring. They seemed urgent, their message of greatest importance, though he knew not of what. All he could glean from it was that there was a battle raging.

Orion Pax, for that was how he still envisioned himself, didn't quite understand. _A war between what? The Great War has raged for eons… _

The voices grew louder, their urgency escalating. He didn't understand what the Matrix was trying to tell him. His thoughts were troubled with what to do with the Decepticon femme. She'd done nothing to make him doubt her; outright anyway. He had suspicions, but the voices of those before him seemed to point him away from those suspicions.

She seemed to follow the same ideals that he stood for, yet the femme practically radiated hate towards the Autobots. Orion didn't really blame her, given the childhood she'd had. But it made his spark ache to know that one could have been so misled regarding the nature of his people.

He sighed heavily, the responsibility of the Primes weighing down on his own spark. _My brother has misled so many good mechs… Will this war ever end?_

Instantly the voices began to fade. They repeated their unheard message to him, trying to make him understand. Finally his mind was silent aside from his own thoughts. It was a question he had asked many times since he was chosen to bear the Matrix of the Allspark. But the Matrix never answered that question. The future was not for mortal mechs to know.

Today, he'd take a leap of faith. Tomorrow, he would try to – to use the humans' term – plant his flag.

The scarlet and blue Prime shuttered his optics. Terabyte's journey to the truth would be long and difficult, but he would try to guide her on her way. The Matrix had never once misled him, he would trust its judgment.

**0940\. Training Room.**

She missed her opportunities. Twice last night, she'd been given a chance to rid the universe of the Wrecker. Twice, she blew it. How could she have let such perfect chances slip past her? She ought to have terminated him.

Terabyte growled in frustration as she hacked furiously at the lead stand with her Energon blade. This was the second stand, and it was nearly sliced in half now. The other one lay on the concrete floor, evenly dissected into five chunks.

As she continued to stab, slash, and punch the post, Terabyte tried to let out her anger. Blow off some steam. At least, that had been the plan. It wasn't working very well. On the other side of the room, the floor was littered with charcoal splinters that were the only remaining evidence that the training arena had been fully stocked with thirty-five hardwood targets. She didn't particularly care at the moment if the Autobots got angry over her excessive use of their training supplies.

So focused on murdering the post in front of her, the spy never heard the whoosh of the automatic doors opening and closing. Finally the post snapped and the top half clattered to the floor with a loud clang. At the same moment a voice directly behind her grunted, impressed.

"Nice job. You look like you could take out an army."

Shocked by the sudden voice, Terabyte spun around with her blade, striking at the speaker before she could even recognize the mech.

The green Wrecker grabbed her wrist, instantly stopping the blow. Letting go of her wrist, the mech chuckled. "Not expecting anyone else to be here, eh?"

She didn't reply. Nor did she sheath her weapon. The femme simply stood there, vents heaving. She was pretty sure she couldn't trust her glossa in her current state of mind.

Bulkhead cocked his helm at her before cracking his servos loudly and walking off to do his own training. Terabyte was about to return to slaughtering lead posts when an idea struck her. She grinned savagely behind her battle mask, her gold optics sparkling in cold anticipation.

"Bulkhead…" The mech turned around to look at her curiously. "You up to a sparring match?"

The Wrecker, as she'd predicted, smiled and nodded eagerly. "Sure."

Getting into position, the two Cybertronians bowed respectfully, initiating the match. They started off circling each other slowly, judging their opponent, waiting for the first move. Terabyte waited for Bulkhead to make his move.

Finally, the Wrecker lunged with his wrecking ball raised. She easily slid under the larger mech's blow, reaching up to slice at the back of his arm as she did so. He dodged and jumped to the side, out of her reach. The exchange complete, they began circling once more. This time, she went for the element of surprise and leapt almost instantly, dagger poised to strike his spark.

Bulkhead blocked with his wrecking ball and, catching her partially unguarded, swung his other fist into her side. Terabyte fell back, winded, but not otherwise harmed. He was measuring his blows. She shoved that observation aside, unwilling to accept it. Once she'd recovered her balance, the spy went back to circling.

This continued for several breems, each getting in a blow here and there, but nothing substantial. Terabyte however, was losing her composure. Her attacks were less and less like sparring and were fuelled by her anger and lust for the Wrecker's life-En. She'd already planned to use the match as an excuse to try and offline him with an easy way out if she failed, but she was no longer concerned about that.

Duck in, strike, slip out. Dodge, counter, block. Feint, parry, circle.

All she was aware of was her own motions and the Wrecker in front of her. Her speed and smaller size was making it difficult for him to get any hits on her, though she'd laid many minor scrapes on him. She could hear both of their ventilation systems struggling to cool their frames.

Her mind was partially in the battle and partially emerged in the horrible memories of that rotation. The screams of femmes and younglings rang in her audials, the stinging scent of burning life-En hovered in her olfactory sensors.

Bulkhead lunged and Terabyte glimpsed an open opportunity. Rolling under his blow, the spy sliced into the gap behind his knee-joint, knocking the mech to his knees. With a roar of fury, she kicked Bulkhead over onto his back and jammed one knee-plate into his chest to keep him from moving. Her Energon dagger was pulled back as she prepared to plunge it into the Wrecker's spark.

"Bulk!" Miko screamed.

The sudden scream broke her concentration, forcibly interrupting the terrible replaying of her memories. Terabyte looked into the optics of the mech below her and saw only worry and confusion. No anger, no desire to harm her.

She sat there, unmoving; stunned by how easily she'd been consumed by her rage. Something was shoving her, pounding on her cannon-arm. Terabyte looked down slowly to see that her servos were still crushing Bulkhead's neck-plates and the vital Energon lines underneath. Miko was standing on her guardian's shoulder, relentlessly – albeit futilely – pounding her squishy fists into her arm in an attempt to make her release the girl's guardian.

Terabyte slowly removed her hand and stood up, still partially lost in her mind. She frowned. Why was she so intent on killing this mech? He wasn't at Protihex. He'd joined the Wrecker's after the destruction of her home. So had Wheeljack. The Wreckers responsible for Protihex were all – as far as she knew – offlined. This mech had done nothing to her but wear their symbol. Did she want vengeance so badly that she would terminate without reason? As a Decepticon, she ought to have been above such prejudice. That was an Autobot trait.

As she came to that conclusion, Terabyte didn't realize just how prejudiced that was. She never considered that she was using a prejudiced line of thought to conclude that she didn't have prejudice.

Extending a silver hand, Terabyte helped the Autobot to his pedes. As an Autobot, Terabyte would not hesitate to kill him if it meant progress for the Decepticon cause, but for the time being she also would not intentionally hunt the mech merely for the symbol on his chassis.

Bulkhead hesitated for a moment before warily taking her hand, not that she was really able to help the much larger mech. Tipping her helm to him, Terabyte tried to form an apology that would amend her actions, hopefully in such a way that her 'loyalty' to the Autobots would not be questioned too much.

The mech however did not allow her to speak. He rolled his neck a bit, several struts audibly popping back into alignment, and spoke gently, almost understandingly. "Get lost in some bad memories?"

She averted her gaze. "Yeah." An idea popped into her mind and she spoke it, carefully keeping the bite out of her tone. "How do the Wrecker's records portray Protihex? I'm curious."

"Whoa… um." The green Autobot blinked rapidly as he visibly struggled to process the sudden question. "The destruction of Protihex was a horrible accident…"

Terabyte's optics narrowed as her thoughts exploded into a raging tempest. Accident?! They considered it an accident? How could the deaths of so many innocents be call-

Her anger was interrupted as Bulkhead continued, "Magnus and his team'd sent in two of the Wreckers' best mechs. Their job was to set one charge in the two suites that the Decepticon trines were hiding in. The charges being used were specially designed so that they'd create a force-field around the room, only blowing up within their fields. The civilians wouldn't even know there'd been an explosion."

Yes, technology like that had been made and proven to work. Terabyte knew that. But Protihex was in ruins after the detonations. How did the Wrecker's story explain that? She growled, "Well, that obviously didn't work too well, did it?"

Miko interrupted with a question of her own. "What's Protihex?"

"It was my home city… Until the Wreckers blew it up. Hundreds of thousands just for six Seekers." Terabyte answered bitterly.

The green mech's sky blue eyes seemed to darken. "No. The charges worked just exactly like they were meant to. Force-fields and everything." Seeing her mouth open to protest, Bulkhead raised one hand placatingly. "Lemme finish. Magnus took in his crew afterwards, to try an' figure out what happened. They found a system of collapsed underground tunnels. Once they got 'em cleared out, the team found evidence of one of Shockwave's huge, secret laboratories. The twisted mech musta thought he'd been discovered and self-destructed the lab, igniting the whole Energon system which he'd tapped into for his experiments."

She gave him a flat stare. Did he really expect her to believe that? Sure, Shockwave was an evil mech with no moral character. She didn't consider the mech a Decepticon. He worked on his own, away from everyone, occasionally aiding the Decepticons for his own profit. But surely by now she'd have known if the one-eyed bot had been under her home. Terabyte vaguely remembered notices mentioning missing younglings and sparklings, but she quickly dismissed them as coincidental.

Elaborate pack of lies. That's all it was. The Autobots had built up an ornate deception to appease their guilty conscience.

Terabyte wondered just how thought out their cover story was and she decided to put it to the test. "Did they ever find out what Shockwave was experimenting on?"

Bulkhead's face-plates went tight and he looked about ready to purge. Slowly the mech nodded his helm. "Yeah… Magnus and the team found a room - several actually - full o' bodies. They were so mangled and mutated that you'd barely have recognized them as Cybertronian. Techno-organics, mech-made combiners, shatter-sparks... Sparklings and younglings mostly."

Her spark twinged painfully. Most of Shockwave's labs had similarly gruesome sights. But that still didn't mean the mech was telling the truth. Terabyte's mind was closed to the idea that it may not have been the Autobots' fault though. She wouldn't even consider the possibility.

Both Autobot and Decepticon spy's thoughts were interrupted by an incoming comm. from Prime. _/Autobots, report to the bridge room immediately./ _

They shared a curious glance, past conversation momentarily forgotten. Transforming, Bulkhead waited long enough for his charge to get in before shooting off down the hall with a screech of rubber. Terabyte quickly followed suit.

Almost all the Autobots arrived in the bridge room simultaneously. With the exception of Cliffjumper, who came in just a little bit after everyone else. Grinning sheepishly, the mech stepped into the circle that had automatically formed around the Prime.

Arcee was the first to speak. "So, what's the emergency, Optimus?"

"There is no emergency." The Prime answered calmly. "I have gathered you together to witness a special event that has not occurred for many vorns."

"**What sort of event?"** Bumblebee whirred curiously. **"Some sort of rare comet?"**

Optimus smiled. "No Bumblebee, this event is of far more importance than a mere comet's passing."

Cliffjumper leaned forward, waving his hands impatiently. "So enough of the suspense… What's going on?"

"We are welcoming a new member into our ranks this day."

"So…" Jack started slowly. Where he stood on the catwalk put the boy at optic level with most of them. "Did some new 'Bot arrive that you guys didn't tell us about?"

Bulkhead shrugged at the boy. "It's news to me."

Finally Ratchet huffed. "Quit tippy-toeing around and get to the point, Prime."

Heeding the gruff words of his old friend, the scarlet and blue Autobot cleared his vocalizer and spoke with the formality used only on official occasions. "On this day, I, Optimus Prime, summon the ex-Decepticon femme, Terabyte."

Spark-beat doubling, the dark-armored spy stepped out of the loose circle around the Prime and stood before him with her helm bent respectfully. Jaws stiff, Terabyte was ever grateful for her mask. This was the day she would be branded with the insignia of the Autobots. Everything she'd ever hated; that was what that symbol represented. And now she would bear the disgrace of wearing it. Her armor was stiffly flared, but she still felt dwarfed by the mech. At her full height, she was only just over half his size. Terabyte couldn't but feel a tremor of fear shake her frame.

Unsure of how to proceed, she murmured in a neutral tone. "Great Prime."

He spoke equally quietly. "Following your decision three quartex past, I deem your spark ready to truly become an Autobot."

About a million rebellious retorts flitted through her mind, but she settled for the honest truth. She did however, use the opposite tone. Going with a duly awed, yet totally respectful tone, she replied. "I am not worthy of wearing your insignia, Prime."

"Good." Optimus' cobalt optics twinkled. "That is proof that you are."

Not being able to come up with an answer that wouldn't compromise her mission, Terabyte bit her glossa and remained silent. If her face were visible, her disgust would be plainly written on it.

"I would ask that you lower your battle-mask for the duration of this occasion." The Prime said softly.

She stifled a low growl from her engine and shook her helm minutely. She couldn't do that. There were some things in which she would allow no compromise. She'd do almost anything but that. Again, the femme didn't reply.

Optimus raised his voice a little more, putting a little more authority into it. "Terabyte, please lower your mask. It is standard procedure for all mechs attending this ceremony to lower their masks or visors."

"I-I ask that an exception be made in my case. I w-can't do that sir." She answered finally, refusing to meet the Matrix-bearer's piercing gaze.

If she'd been looking at him, she'd have seen the sadness in his optics as he spoke again, no longer requesting it of her, but ordering that she obey. "Terabyte. I can make no exceptions without a legitimate reason. Lower your battle mask now, or this ceremony cannot take place."

Meaning her mission would be good as scrapped. She had no choice. Carefully wiping all emotion from her face-plates, Terabyte slowly pulled the battle mask down, keeping her helm down. She could hear the almost inaudible sounds of the other Autobots, each of them shifting to get a better look at her face. She couldn't exactly blame them though. Had Soundwave one day decided to raise his visor, she most certainly would be among those unable to resist a curious glance.

She felt bare. Open. It felt to her as if she'd just opened a window to her spark and set up neon lights all around her that constantly announced how she felt. No one could be trusted with that. And now, for the first time since Protihex, she had lowered her mask for a group of mechs she didn't even know aside from their files. A slight shiver ran down her struts as she forced a nervous smile onto her face.

Optimus nodded and cleared his vocalizer again, returning everyone's attention to the matter at hand. "You have served alongside us in many battles now, and proved your honest desire to join our ranks and make amends for the wrongs done during your time as a Decepticon. Now we welcome you among us by giving you the Autobot symbol. Does anyone in this room object?"

The old medic looked ready to make his objection, but after locking optics with the Prime for a moment, Ratchet swallowed his protest.

The Autobot leader picked up the branding tool and turned to her. "By accepting this insignia, you are not only accepting a symbol, but you are also accepting the high moral standards which it represents. Do you swear on your life that you will uphold the weak, oppose all forms and embodiments of evil, and live to protect the innocent?"

So that's what they professed to stand for. The very things she believed in. "I swear by my spark that I will, to the best of my ability, protect the innocent, oppose evil, and uphold the weak." Terabyte replied solemnly, rearranging the vow to better apply.

"And will you submit to your authorities and stand loyal to the Autobots and our cause?"

Here, Terabyte hesitated. She would not swear her allegiance to a cause or to a mech. "I swear… that I will submit to my authorities and stand loyal to the Autobots and your cause… for as long as they uphold the moral standards to which I've sworn allegiance."

After a moment of tense silence, Optimus smiled and nodded. "A wise alteration."

With that, the mech pressed the branding tool to the blank belt-plate where her Decepticon insignia had been. Terabyte hissed as the red hot iron seared the symbol into her armor. A tiny amount of steam billowed up from where the branding tool touched.

When Optimus lifted the iron, she took a moment to inspect it. The Prime's hands had been perfectly steady, resulting in a flawless weld. There on her own chassis shone the Autobot insignia.

She had planned to visit Skyquake later that rotation, but now she wasn't so sure. Terabyte already felt guilty about leaving him alone there for so long. Yet how would he react to her now that she bore the sign of the enemy? There was also the matter of Soundwave's orders… would she really be able to keep such a big secret from him? Up until now, she'd – well, if she was honest, she'd been procrastinating a visit because of that fear.

From his point of view, she'd been loyal to the cause for vorns and vorns. They fought side by side and won and lost many battles together over the vorns. And then he left on a long mission. Upon awaking, the friend he'd left behind had now betrayed the cause that they'd worked so hard to defend.

A slightly sick feeling sunk into her tanks. Terabyte sincerely hoped that she didn't look as disgusted as she was. The very symbol that she'd spent her entire adult life fighting against was now seared into her armor. Her next words were a hundred percent honest, but the tone she used was utterly fake.

"I don't deserve this."

Cliffjumper stepped forward and clapped a hand onto her shoulder. "Don't pull yourself down, TB. You've been an Autobot for a long time."

_'I sure hope not.' _She thought, forcing an empty laugh from her vocalizer, quickly turning back to the Prime. "Permission to raise my mask sir."

Letting out a huge sigh, the mech nodded. "Granted." To himself, Optimus smiled sadly. Maybe one day, the femme would learn to trust them more.


	23. Confrontations

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 23**

**Confrontations**

_The Prussian blue and black femme stood alone in the back doorway of the mess hall. She was standing because the other tables all had other mechs seated at them. Her usual table that she sat at with Skyquake was occupied too. He and his twin were deep in silent mental discussion, every now and then Dreadwing would smirk slyly, or Skyquake would bust up laughing at seemingly nothing at all._

_He looked so happy to have his brother back. Poor mech's spark must have been in turmoil to be separated from him so long. Twin sparks were never meant to be separated._

_Draining the last of her Energon, the spy threw away her cube and left. She was planning to visit Shadowlight after her last shift. The silver jet had been taken to the brig after attacking her and was still there to this day. The higher ups had her locked up because of mental instability. The femme would be released if and when she was stable. _

_She held no grudge against Shadowlight. In that position, she'd probably have done the same. Again, twin sparks were never meant to be separated._

_Halfway down the corridor, she heard heavy pede-falls approaching from behind. Whoever it was was running. She kept walking at the same pace, not even turning around to see who it was._

_Deciding that she'd go to her quarters to try to Shift between work shifts, the femme took a sharp left turn. The pede-falls, rather than fading into the distance, continued to get closer. Still, she thought little of it._

_"Terabyte!" Skyquake called as he caught up to her. Lunging forward, he grabbed her elbow, bringing her to a halt. "Tera, wait up."_

_She turned around to face the green jet. She didn't lower her mask. "Hi Skyquake."_

_He grinned down at her before a concerned frown touched his face. "Hey. You haven't come to train for orns..."_

_She averted her gaze. It was true. She hadn't even bothered going to train. Soundwave hadn't given her any field missions since her little chat with the Lord Protector either. "I've been busy." The femme muttered, the tell-tale twitch informing her friend of the empty excuse._

_"I waited for you." She lowered her helm guiltily. She'd figured he was busy with Dreadwing. He continued, "I hardly see you any more... And your mask is up."_

_In spite of herself, the two-wheeler smiled at her friend's whiny tone, though her mask didn't retract. She wasn't quite sure how to make him understand. "I just thought that you were... I mean with Dreadwing back, and..." Shaking her helm slightly, the femme started over, her voice firmer with a hint of bitterness. "Your twin is back now, you don't need me anymore. Besides, Dreadwing is... less than fond of me. You don't need that between you." _

_To her immense surprise, the green jet laughed. He laughed long and hard before he finally got a hold of himself. Pushing her chin up so she was looking into his optics, Skyquake shook his helm. "I know I've been with Dread since he got back, but he's my brother... It had already been several quartex since I'd seen him when you came along." A dark mist shrouded his ruby optics for a moment as he no doubt recalled the pain of separation. "Split sparks aren't meant to be separated like that. You're the only reason I'm still sane."_

_She grinned slyly, walking again at a leisurely pace towards the training arena. "Ish."_

_Optics twinkling, he accepted the suffix. "Okay, sane-ish." His tone quickly became serious again. "But Terabyte, don't you ever think that my brother being here means the end of our friendship. Dread's just jealous, he'll get over it."_

_The desperation in his voice was clear. And she understood. He didn't want to get stuck in a position where he'd have to choose between them. Not that there would really be a choice; spark split twin with whom he shared minds or close friend. Not hard._

_"Don't be too surprised if we don't exactly get along though. Your brother's a bit of a jerk." She replied with a small chuckle as she lowered her battle mask. Her first impressions were still fresh in her mind and not too pleasant._

_Skyquake laughed fondly. "Yeah... But he's my jerk."_

Ratchet watched the Prussian blue and black femme approach out of the corner of his optic. The red and white medic continued to work on his medical report on the Decepticon, trying to ignore the femme very obviously coming to disturb him about something or other that was wrong. He wished people didn't look up to him so much. They always expected him to be able to magically fix their problems, no matter what the problem was.

"Medic." Terabyte called formally. Poor femme had been lied to by the 'Cons for so long. Couldn't even go to a medic without fear.

"What." He snapped tetchily. Truth was, he couldn't always fix it, so he couldn't get attached to anyone or thing lest it break in this pointless war. Similar thoughts had been foremost in his thoughts that day.

The femme's branding ceremony had brought many unwanted memories to mind. Prowl's ceremony had been so alike. Prompt and unplanned, not entirely adherent to protocols. He had protested Prowl joining their forces. Little did he know that the ex-Con would soon become one of his most trusted friends. Staying away hadn't worked with Prowl. Things would have been so much easier if it had worked, yet so much harder all the same.

"-Skyquake?" Ratchet realized that he'd completely missed Terabyte's request. Nevertheless, the medic smirked, knowing exactly what the femme wanted.

"His frame has accepted the new processor and it is now fully integrated. At this point in time he ought to have regained the majority of his memories." He replied gruffly.

Terabyte's whole frame sagged with relief until she seemed to catch herself and snap back into formality. She was a lot like Prowl in that way: trying so hard to hide that she had any sort of feelings. Trying to keep the whole world ignorant of her spark, and that she even had one. Prowl had been so _painfully_ good at it.

Her voice had the slightest hint of annoyance, probably at herself, when she spoke again. "Permission to take the prisoner his Energon ration."

The medic nodded swiftly, returning to his report. When he could no longer hear her quickly retreating pede-falls, Ratchet smiled faintly and shook his helm. He always had been better at reading mechs than most.

'_I'll never betray the Decepticons, sir. I wouldn't help those murderers if my life depended on it.' _When he'd barely known her, that was how she'd responded when he'd questioned her loyalty. In all the vorns he'd known her, Terabyte had stood true to that declaration.

Until now.

Skyquake stared at the Autobot symbol etched into her armor. A million emotions flickered through his spark, but awe remained first and foremost. Blinking his optics as if to make sure that what he was seeing was real, the jet stifled a betrayed growl.

"What have you done?"

She must have heard his growl anyway. Terabyte's optics were filled with… anger, hurt. She seemed conflicted with herself.

He'd trusted her and she'd betrayed their cause. She'd betrayed him.

He stood up. "You betrayed us. After all this time, you've betrayed us. I trusted you." He took a step towards her, mostly unaware of how menacing he looked as he towered over her. "You're a traitor to your people."

The Energon cube in her hands crashed to the floor and she backed away a few steps. "I-it's not like that…"

_The femme lay crumpled against the Earth boulder, a small trickle of life-En rolling down her frame from the massive dented gash in the proto-plating. Her bio-lights flickered as the femme blinked her golden optics, stunned. The setting sun reflected off her armor, sparkling; the beauty blissfully ignorant of the pain he'd just caused his best friend…_

Every thought in his mind ceased, the femme's reaction painfully awakening the brief memory. The fear in her voice… the way she shied away as if wounded - as if afraid of being wounded again. He looked down at the spilled Energon and shattered glass at his pedes. What was he doing? How could he allow himself to frighten his best friend like that? He didn't want her to fear him.

She met his optics for half a second before she shifted her gaze away. "The Decepticons no longer care about life. They kill without a second's thought…"

"What about Protihex? That wasn't the Decepticons." He pointed out, his voice a little softer than before. He didn't back down completely. She'd still betrayed him.

Skyquake heard the femme's vents hitch. "The Decepticons have destroyed far more cities than the Autobots ever did: Uraya, Praxus, Crystal City, Nova Cronum, Altihex…" At her next statement, her left finial twitched repeatedly. He vaguely remembered that the twitch indicated something important, but he couldn't remember why. "I don't even think the Autobots were entirely responsible for the destruction of Protihex."

He cocked his helm curiously, "What makes you think that?"

"T-the Autobots have been nothing but kind to me. They value honesty, respect, life, and duty." Her finial twitched backwards several more times in succession. "They're like a family to each other."

His ruby optics dimmed considerably as he processed this. Finally he spoke up quietly. "Are you happier here?"

That was what mattered the most. As long as she was happy, he would learn to accept this sudden change.

Black finial twitching harshly, far more insistently, Terabyte replied firmly. "I am. I'm happy here …" She whispered, most likely not meaning for him to hear. "I am following my duty, this is my mission."

With that, she smiled at him before leaving him to his thoughts. Skyquake frowned. What had she meant by her 'mission'? He didn't seem to remember her believing in destiny…

Terabyte gave Skyquake a half-sparked smile and left the brig. As soon as she was out of hearing range, the femme sighed deeply. It had been two earth weeks since she officially joined the Autobots. She'd spent most of that time arguing with herself about when to visit him. It felt so wrong to not be able to speak freely with him.

Had she spoken with too much conviction? And the twitch! Surely he would have noticed the telling twitch. Or had he forgotten? Why did Soundwave order her not to tell him?

As she wandered through the halls, the spy's thoughts wandered too. Very soon she'd know the location of their base... In fact, her mission had gone far faster than anyone had expected. Her next report would likely contain the coordinates.

She scowled at the door to her quarters before walking past. There were so many questions in her mind now. She was beginning to wonder if the Autobots really were masquerading. Now that she was one of them, everyone had definitely been more relaxed. Yet their attitudes remained consistent, even when they didn't know she was watching.

Her recent conversation with Bulkhead lay heavy on her spark. Terabyte had had time to run his story through her logic centers and it all seemed to make sense. She could see how the scientist's cold, sparkless logic could have justified it. Destroy his evidence while bringing shame to the Autobots' name. If _she_ had nurtured a hatred for the Autobots because of Protihex, it only made sense that others would have as well.

But the records never said anything about a lab under Protihex. Then again, Megatron had ordered a wipe of Shockwave's records in one of his deals with the mech shortly after her arrival in Kaon.

Terabyte shook her helm as if hoping to clear it of confusion. Logic may approve, but her spark was not willing to believe without hard evidence. She needed solid, irrefutable proof before she could accept it.

But what could she trust as an honest source? It wasn't as if she could go to Cybertron.

"A beautiful melody..." The Prime's voice cut into her thoughts. "Not one I'm familiar with."

Terabyte jumped at the voice and turned her helm to see that Optimus was walking beside her. "What? Melody?"

He smiled. "You were humming." To her surprise, the mech began to tentatively imitate the tune. He hit several strange notes, but she recognized it immediately. When he finished he had a slightly chagrined expression, knowing how off-key he was. "A Decepticon lullaby?"

Shaking her helm, the femme's optics misted over. "I hadn't realized that I was humming... No, it was a Protihexian poem that my carrier and sire put music to. We made a lot of our own music..."

After a while of silence, Optimus finally spoke up, changing the subject. They'd nearly made a full round of the base. "Have you been treated well?"

"Since this?" Terabyte gestured to the insignia centered on her 'belt'. "I have been treated well..."

The Prime chuckled lightly, prompting her to continue. "However?"

She averted her gaze as they continued walking, not really going anyplace in particular. "I still do not know just exactly what y-we believe in as Autobots. I know the regulations, but aside from them I know only what I learned in Decepticon ranks."

"Yes, I meant to address that matter directly after the ceremony..." His optics were shining brightly, as if he was excited by the prospect of spewing Autobot propaganda to her. He started with his famous quote, "First and foremost, we as Autobots believe in justice and freedom for all sentient beings."

Every casualty list she'd ever filed scrolled behind her optics. 'Freedom for all'; a good thing to believe. But the only freedom she'd seen come by Autobot hands was freedom from life. "Freedom from what?" Her tone was deceptively void of malice.

"Tyranny and oppression." He paused for a while. "We fight so that our world may live again in peace and prosperity. Free from the dictatorship of mechs who care only for their own wealth and power, not for the well-being of the people. We fight for a Cybertron that doesn't fear what the next day will bring."

Terabyte stared ahead, deep in thought. Something in his voice... such deep spark-felt conviction. She believed Optimus Prime.

_She was much younger. Still a sparkling. Her yellow and blue armor sparkled in the light as she sat in the middle of the room playing with her dolls. Hearing her sire's heavy pede-falls, the sparkling looked up adoringly at Bullwing. Coolant was dried on his face._

_Wobbling on her chubby pedes, she toddled up to her sire, who swooped down to catch her in a tight hug. She squirmed around until she could touch his face. With one stubby little servo, the sparkling traced the line of coolant. Poking out her lower lip, she asked him solemnly. "Da cwies?"_

_"My little Terabyte!" He hugged her closer until she felt squished. Then he set her on her little pedes and, gripping her shoulders, spoke more seriously to her than he ever had before. "Sparklet, whatever comes in your life, always remember what your carrier and I have taught you. And above that, always listen to what your spark tells you is right, no matter what everyone else is doing. Do you understand, Terabyte?"_

_With wide optics, the sparkling nodded. "Member Da's sayses an' lis-listen to spark. Awways."_

_Bullwing smiled and tickled her belly, making her fall backwards squealing with laughter. Chuckling, his pride shone in his voice. "That's it, sparkling. Awways."_

Optimus smiled and nodded. "Wise advise... Advise that we as Autobots strive to stand by."

She frowned. Simultaneously she made two realizations. One, they weren't walking anymore and she hadn't noticed when they'd stopped. And two, the Prime was replying to something she'd said, though she didn't realize she'd spoken aloud.

"Sorry?" Terabyte felt rather foolish about having for the second time that conversation said something she'd meant to remain in her mind and having to ask to find out what she'd said.

"'Always listen to what your spark tells you is right': something your sire told you?" The Prime asked gingerly, seeming to understand the sensitivity of the topic.

She sighed deeply as she thought about her sire. "He told me that when I was just a sparkling. Bullwing was the best sire a mech could ask for..."

Optimus hummed thoughtfully. "Bullwing. He was one of the Decepticons greatest soldiers. Very early in the war he went neutral. You are very proud of him... I wish I could have met him."

"I didn't know that." Terabyte whispered, referring to her sire's past, her vocals cracking painfully. "There was a lot I never knew about my parents..."

Coolant tears welled up behind her optics and she lowered her helm, trying to hold them back. Finally she managed to croak out a quiet, "Permission to patrol the perimeter, sir."

"Granted." She was halfway through her transformation sequence when the Prime stopped her. "Terabyte. Take Cliffjumper with you."

The second half of her transformation was considerably less enthusiastic. She needed to get out, into the peaceful silence where she could drive away her troubles. She wouldn't be able to if she brought the talkative, overly optimistic fighter. That and the vehicle mode related restrictions...

"Must I?"

The Autobot leader chuckled knowingly. "You may choose one of the others if you would prefer."

Shaking her front wheel in the motorcycle approximation of an acknowledging nod, Terabyte rolled down the corridor in search of a suitable 'guard'.

The dry, warm winds of the Nevada desert rushed over the Prussian blue motorcycle's slim frame. Riding over a hundred miles an hour, a huge dust cloud billowed in her wake. Behind and to her left drove a yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes.

She had chosen the scout because she figured Bumblebee wouldn't bother her. She knew she was capable of much higher speeds, but out of consideration for the mech, she was maintaining a relatively moderate pace.

The harsh air tore away the tensions that had built up in her frame and processors over the past few orns. It was just her and the earth beneath her tires. No disguises, no schemes, just peace. Finally she could analyze her problems objectively, reasonably.

Terabyte now knew the exact coordinates of the Autobots base. With this knowledge, she now held the sparks of these mechs at the tips of her servos. Normally she wouldn't hesitate. She'd fulfill her duty and vengeance simultaneously without a second thought.

But it was different now.

Now she saw the war from both faction's viewpoints. She'd seen the Autobots kill and the Decepticons kill, and she had an idea of each one's purpose. Who was she to judge one guilty and the other pure? War is war, neither side is ever innocent... but how could she decide whose intent was right?

She needed more information. Solid evidence against one side or the other. Until then, she would have to bide her time.

At first the femme had always counted Protihex as proof enough, but the statistics said otherwise. For every one city destroyed by the Autobots, the Decepticons totaled three. And now Cybertron was dark and the people scattered.

She would not judge without sufficient evidence.

_Bing!_

Terabyte slammed on her brakes, squealing to harsh and abrupt halt, having been surprised by the sudden noise. Moments later a blur of black and yellow zipped past before making a u-turn to come to a stop in front of her.

**"Wha- oh; message." **The scout interrupted himself as he too received the transmission ping.

_/Terabyte, Bumblebee, come back to base stat. Optimus is ill./ _Ratchet commed, his glyphs showing his concern.

Bumblebee flashed his headlights twice before shooting off in the direction of the base. The Decepticon femme was quick to follow.

It felt as if they'd been waiting for the medic's diagnosis for joors, though they all knew it had been only a few klicks. Ratchet now examined the scans of a small life-En sample from the Prime's frame. Around Optimus' right optic, the faceplate was rusting at an alarming rate.

Terabyte stood in the back corner of the med-bay, glaring at the Prime as if it was his fault she was worried. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't really concerned for the enemy leader's well-being. As if she would care if the Autobot lived or died!

Yet... She did.

"Well?" She growled finally.

Ratchet huffed. "Cybonic plague. It's only contagious if contact is made with infected Energon."

On the catwalk built specially for the humans, Miko frowned. "What was a plague doing in an Autobot spaceship?"

"It's passengers were infected." Ratchet explained.

"The virus wiped out millions during the great War." Arcee stated.

Double checking her database, Terabyte stepped forward to look more closely at the Prime's rusting optic. "Cybonic plague, also known as cosmic rust, was engineered in the Decepticon Biological Warfare Program. The exact mech that created it was un-"

The red and white medic interrupted her bitterly. "Of course since equal numbers of _Decepticons_ fell to the plague alongside Autobots, he would have kept that fact off record in order to keep his troops in line. The Cybonic plague was invented by Megatron himself."

Raf glanced between Terabyte and the medic pleadingly. "But… you have a cure, don't you?"

A memory of Smokescreen enacting his infamous begging face flashed before her optics and Terabyte felt her spark long to give the boy the answer he wanted.

Optimus groaned, straining to say his part, finally croaking his calm answer, "No. Cure..."

Ratchet's whole demeanor softened instantly. "Optimus, please. Save your strength."

Jack pressed himself against the rail, gripping it firmly. "Would Megatron create a disease without having a cure? I mean, what if he caught it accidentally?"

Arcee snorted. "It's not like we can ask Megatron, Jack."

Across the room, Bulkhead huffed in agreement. "He's pushin' up lugnuts."

The Decepticon spy conveniently forgot to mention that Soundwave had detected her leader's life signal. "If we could somehow get on the Nemesis... My codes should still work, and if not, I could hack into the database pretty easily ."

The medic's turquoise blue optics widened. "For the moment... We still have a fix on their location!"

"I'll go with her." Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, and Arcee all said simultaneously.

Glancing at the three of them, Terabyte shrugged noncommittally. "Four will be too noticeable."

Cliffjumper stepped forward. Catching the worried and clearly unsatisfied gleam in Arcee's optics, the red mech grinned. "Relax, 'Cee, we'll be fine."

"Just watch your six, Cliff'." The blue and pink Autobot warned darkly.

The warrior snorted. "Even if she did try to turn on me, Short Stuff here couldn't do much on me."

_'That's what you think.' _Terabyte thought, growling at the new nickname. Out loud she said, "The Prime doesn't have time to chat, in case you have forgotten."

Opening the ground bridge, Ratchet gave them his final instructions. "Go quickly and maintain an open comm-line." With that, Autobot and spy stepped through the bridge, neither sure of what might await on the other side.

Emerging from the green portal, Terabyte and Cliffjumper looked around quickly, finding themselves thankfully to be in a small, deserted corridor. She took a deep vent of the Nemesis air, expecting to enjoy the familiar scent. It wasn't as nice as she remembered it. Instead it was stale and bitter, like... a battlefield.

She pressed her back against the wall, motioning for Cliffjumper to do the same, her sensitive finials catching faint, approaching pede-falls. The shadows wrapped around them as they waited. Finally, Knockout walked past.

Terabyte held her breath as the Decepticon medic stopped in the middle of the hallway entrance, listening. After a while the mech shrugged and moved on.

"Whew. So... which-" Cliffjumper started in a slightly loud whisper.

"Shhh!" The dark femme hissed urgently. In answer to his unfinished query, Terabyte jerked her helm to the left. Twice more between there and the lab she knew would be empty at that groon the two intruders had to avoid wandering Vehicons.

Their position still secret, the Prussian blue two-wheeler locked the door to the lab once both were safely inside. Immediately finding and activating the master terminal, Terabyte quickly found that the access codes had been changed.

_Access denied. _Trying several alternate combinations, the results were unchanged. _Access denied._

Heaving a frustrated vent of cool air, she tried several more. _Access denied._ "Stand guard, Cliffjumper. This might take a while."

_Access denied. Initiating intruder alert in ten, nine..._

"Scrap..." Terabyte speedily pulled open a slat on her wrist and connected the wire, directly linking her processor to the terminal. Synced with the computer, her logic centers were able to input the possible codes a hundred times faster than she could type them.

_Three, two... Access granted. Continue countdown? Yes/No... Cancelling intruder alert._

"Tell Ratchet I'm in..." She muttered as she formulated a search algorithm for any and all medical vaccines and cures. Terabyte wasn't expecting a very long list of solutions to the algorithm. She had expected wrong.

_Showing 2,183 results in 3.792539 seconds._

Narrowing the search down to plague cures, the femme scanned the leftover four hundred and twenty one results. Nothing. Cocking an optic ridge, Terabyte tried yet another algorithm. None of the fifty two were for cosmic rust. She kept trying until her narrowed down searches came up with nothing.

_/It's not here./ _Terabyte commed calmly.

Glyphs frantic, the medic replied, _/Are you sure, Terabyte?/_

_/Positive. Searched every file./_

Ratchet's patience was long gone. She could almost see the medic's optics fritzing. _/Well search again! Clearly, you missed something!/_

The Decepticon spy rolled her optics impatiently. _/I am directly linked to the system. By a hard line connection. It's not here./_

_/Did you use a redundant quantum algorithm?/ _

She growled in aggravation. She didn't need an Autobot medic to tell her how to do her job. She sent back a sarcastic, _/__**Yes**__, I did. Because __**clearly**__ Soundwave would have gladly kept incompetent femmes in his department.__/_

Cliffjumper chose that moment to interrupt her silent argument with the worried medic. "Uh... TB? Think you might wanna come check this out."

She turned to the door he was staring through with disbelieving optics. The red mech had left guarding the door to explore a little bit and had apparently found something.

"What is i-" The words died in her vocalizer as she beheld the sight before her. Lying there, amidst a jungle of tubes and wires, was the Lord Protector himself. The only sign that he was alive was the monitor beside him reading mental activity.

Next to her, Cliffjumper spoke in awed tones. "It's Megatron... He's alive."

Apparently he was talking to Ratchet through his comm. speaking aloud out of consideration. After a few seconds he replied to an unheard skepticism. "Well, we're staring right at him. Good news is: ole bucket head's not exactly - ah - ship shape."

Terabyte stepped closer to the great warrior's berth to examine the readings more closely. Her leader was entirely dependant upon the life support systems. His processor patterns suggested that he was in a mere vegetative dream state.

"So, while I'd hate to be a glory hog, I'm going to end this here and now." As the red mech spoke, he had a harsh determination etched across his faceplates. Raising both of his blasters, Cliffjumper charged his weapons and took aim.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" Terabyte yelled, stepping between the Autobot and the warlord. At the same time, a similar message from Ratchet appeared on her HUD in frantic glyphs.

Cliffjumper cocked an optic ridge, wiggling his blasters impatiently. "Gimme one good reason. Better make it snappy too, gettin' a bit trigger happy here."

_/Megatron may be Optimus's only hope for survival./ _

The Prussian blue and black spy smirked as the fighter's mouth fell open, his guns transforming back into hands as they dropped with his jaw. "What? How?"

_/Does he display brainwave activity?/ _

_/Affirmative./ _Terabyte sent in instant reply.

"His sick mind's still at work." Cliffjumper muttered. "But what's that got to do with the Big Bot?"

Both medic and spy answered simultaneously. "If a cure exists, Megatron may be the only one who knows it." Ratchet continued to explain. _/You must enter his processor and find it./_

"Enter Megatron's processor?" She exclaimed, the idea seeming too disrespectful for words.

"Are you completely glitched?!" Cliffjumper roared, loud enough that Terabyte was certain half the ship would come running. Instead she only heard the faint grumbling of one of the Vehicons the next level up, "Shut up, Handles!"

_/The Decepticon laboratory should have all the equipment you need for a cortical psychic patch./_

Terabyte's optics widened marginally. Cortical psychic patches were the most painful way to retrieve data from a mind. The procedure was also incredibly more invasive than a normal sync, giving direct, total control and liberty in the other's processor.

This also meant that there was a much higher probability of one or both minds involved being fragmented beyond repair, resulting in insanity or, more commonly, termination. In essence, one could access the other processor with the exact level of ease that they have in their own. "Have you ever performed the procedure?"

_/No... But I have thoroughly studied the theoretical literature./ _Here the medic's glyphs stretched out in reluctant hesitation. _/Invented by Decepticons, outlawed by Autobots./_

"Hang on, can't we just haul Megatron through a bridge, buy ourselves some time to figure this out?" Cliffjumper asked nervously.

_/Time is one thing Optimus does __**not**__ have! One of you must try this! I will not allow Optimus to pass knowing that Megatron will outlive him./_

The red mech shuffled his pedes slightly. "Doc, you know I'd willingly trade my life for Prime... But a mind/body split? That's just-"

"I'll do it." Terabyte whispered. Maybe, just maybe, a glimpse into her leader's mind would reveal some of the answers to her questions. More firmly, the femme repeated herself, "I'll do it."

_/(Raf) Y-you will? Are you sure, Terabyte?/ _Ratchet kindly relayed the youngest human's plea.

She shrugged. "Someone has to. I'm disposable; that makes me the best choice."

Cliffjumper looked at her with worried optics. "TB, you're not disposable anymore than I am. Don't do this for that reason."

She smiled sadly at the mech who seemed to have grown some form of brotherly attachment to her. He would be so devastated if he ever learned that she had abused his easily-obtained trust to forward her mission. "I want to do this, Cliff'. Nothing anyone says will change my mind."

The next half groon was spent gathering and connecting the various tools and cables necessary for the patch. At last the mess of cords and boxes were stacked back into their original positions, the only signal of their presence being a thick black cable strewn across the floor as inconspicuously as possible. Aside from its faint purple glow.

Spy and fighter sat hunched over in a small cavity in the wall, just large enough for two mechs. Cliffjumper sent the medic a short message, _/Ok, Doc. We're set./ _

_/Initiate cortical psychic patch./ _

Terabyte slid open the panel at the base of her neck, turning her back to Cliffjumper so that the data port beneath was accessible. Uploading a small package to the comm link, she sent it with the small note, _/Sending audio-visual uplink data./ _

As the connection was made, Terabyte felt her frame involuntarily writhe away from the cable. Then all of a sudden, the strangest feeling swept over her as she felt her very consciousness being drained from her body. For a split second, the femme saw through two sets of optics, felt the frames of two bodies, her own tense, untrusting frame; the Lord Protector's, filled with fiery agony...

Just as quickly, the spy found herself in... Kaon? Shuddering, she saw that it was a different version than the city she once called home. It was harsher, more uniform. The streets were silent and the clouds appeared to be burning, the sky red and black. Peeking into a window she saw a family of thin, tired mechs. As soon as she was spotted, the father pulled down a steel shutter over the window. "It looks like Kaon... But definitely isn't."

As Terabyte walked along the deserted highway, she knew that those in the real world could hear and see all that she could. Unfortunately, she could not hear them.

"His mind is strongly shielded, even in this state. I can't hack it." Terabyte continued to report to seemingly no one. Unseen, her left finial gave its characteristic twitch.

The femme continued her path until she reached the Victory Square, empty and forlorn aside from two mechs. On the balcony of one building stood Megatron, battle blade drawn and gleaming. Below, in the center of the square, stood the Prime, mask raised and blades ready.

She watched the virtual reality curiously, though not completely unphased by her apparent proximity to a budding showdown between the two mechs. "Not real." She muttered in a reminder to herself.

Laughing, her leader jeered at the Prime. "Optimus, your Autobot armies are defeated. Bow before your new master!"

"Never, Megatron." Stepping forward, the Prime uttered the well-known prophecy, "One shall stand, one shall fall."

The Lord Protector laughed again, seeming to enjoy the prospect of slaughtering the Prime. "So be it."

With that, both leaders leapt at each other, running with weapons raised to come together with a resounding crash. They struggled for the upper hand for only moments before her leader sliced through the Prime, making him disintegrate; wisps of smoke quickly fading where the Prime had stood.

Suddenly Megatron stood only meters before her, though he hadn't taken a single step. Out of thin air, Optimus appeared just one step in front of her.

"Megatron, your treachery ends here." The Autobot said firmly, walking to his doom.

As she'd expected, the figment was quickly destroyed, becoming a mere vapor in the wind. Terabyte fell backwards a few steps as her leader again seemed to teleport, this time appearing bent over to meet her shocked gaze.

Megatron straightened, having recognized her. "Ah yes, the little femme with a Decepticon mind, but sickeningly Autobot spark."

She took a sharp intake. What did he mean she had an Autobot spark? There was no way she was one of those murdering-

Gesturing to the figment Autobot team approaching, he continued before her confused thoughts could fully form. "One day, the choice will come, Lieutenant Terabyte, second in command of Communications and Intelligence. The day will come when you must choose: My cause or theirs."


	24. The Doubleminded: Edited!

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 24**

**The Doubleminded**

_Alone in the dead of the night, the small femme laid on her berth, seeming to sleep peacefully. The faint golden glow of her bio-lights illuminated the room, casting elongated shadows across the violet walls around her as she recharged._

_She bolted upright as if burnt, wide optics fearfully scanning the room. Her spark was pounding, vents blowing hard to cool her overheated systems. The femme's frame had overheated so rapidly that beads of condensation were forming on her armor._

_As she stared at the shadows dancing on her walls, the femme shuddered, unable to banish the nightmarish images from her mind._

_The faces of so many mechs that she'd terminated in the war floated through her processor, their final cries ringing in her helm. Behind them scrolled endless lists of names, body counts, conquered cities… The cries of the dead growing louder and louder, creating a mentally deafening roar._

_She grabbed her helm in her hands, as if she could hold it together. Rocking back and forth the femme whispered over and over like a mantra, "Go away, go away, go away!"_

_Louder than any of the other voices rang Seaspray's, just before she let him go that rotation she'd met him for the second time since Protihex. Those words had been the only reason she hadn't offlined the Wrecker right then and there. She found out that Dreadwing offlined the mech less than a quartex afterwards._

"_Terabyte… are you proud of what the Decepticons have made you? Are you proud of who you've become?"_

_Relentlessly his watery voice echoed through her mind over the roar of the others, numbers and faces still scrolling before her optics. For the rest of the night cycle the femme sat awake, with only their voices for company._

"_Terabyte… Are you proud of who you've become?"_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit…**

"**It's Megatron… He's alive."**

**/Megatron may be Optimus' only hope for survival… You must enter his processor…/**

**Megatron straightened, having recognized her. "Ah yes, the little femme with the Decepticon mind, but sickeningly Autobot spark… One day, the choice will come, Lieutenant Terabyte, second in command of Communicatons and Intelligence. The day will come when you must choose: My cause or theirs."**

Megatron smirked, no doubt at her widened optics. "Oh yes, you've worn both insignias now. But the symbol on your chassis means little either way, Lieutenant... What matters is whose side you are on in spark."

This was bad. This was very bad. She had told the Autobots that she was a low rank. The Lord Protector just called her bluff. In front of all of Team Prime. Not to mention that he was openly discussing her inner conflict for all to hear.

The Autobots were supposed to think she had that all figured out. That was why they'd given her their symbol. As physical proof that she had joined them and accepted their standards. Now Megatron was telling them that she was still trying to decide. And since their minds were currently merged, there was no logical way for her to deny it.

"Now, how goes the battle for Iacon?" Megatron asked her suddenly, completely changing the topic. "I trust it is going well. It _is_ the last Autobot city left standing."

Sputtering for a moment, Terabyte tried to track the rapid subject change. "Uh... m-my lord, Cybertron has been dead for several vorns now... There has been no battle for Iacon."

The mech's silver optic ridges fell into a deep scowl. "How can this be?!"

Terabyte looked around as if she might see something to help her situation. She was about to attempt to answer her leader when she caught sight of Soundwave... and herself.

Phantom-her followed the silent head of communications dutifully. Terabyte couldn't help but notice just how she looked to others. Each step was perfectly measured, her posture stiffly straight. She looked strong, unfeeling... Though she supposed that was the point.

Unknowingly, Terabyte approached her phantom self. The raised mask mirrored her own, revealing only a small part of her face; the golden optics were nearly unreadable. The femme was only barely aware of Megatron's calculating gaze. Phantom-her walked straight through her and bowed slightly to the Lord Protector.

Terabyte watched as the phantom handed him a datapad before returning to her place behind Soundwave. Was that what she looked like from behind? She shrugged. She could look worse. Phantom's voice was stiffly formal, totally inflectionless. "The reports requested, my lord?"

The Lord Protector growled angrily, slashing through the phantom of Soundwave and herself. "You are real. They were not." She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued, chuckling lightly as he began to pace around her. "A cortical psychic patch, how unexpected..."

"I came for ans-"

Megatron cut her off, paying no attention to her. His tone grew dangerous. "If this is my subconscious... What are you doing in my head?!"

The two-wheeler shrank away from the angry mech, who'd bent down so close she could feel each furious exvent. Her armor clamped down tightly to her frame, her automatic response to avoid punishment. She felt every proximity alarm in her mind and body screaming for personal space.

"They sen-"

Again, the warlord spoke over the top of her, paying no heed to her. "The only way you could have entered my mind to this extent is via cortical psychic patch." Megatron stepped away to begin pacing once more. "But the question remains: what happened to me?"

"The Autobots destroyed the space bridge." Terabyte explained quietly, fearful of invoking his wrath. She needed to hurry up. She needed to get out of his head before her cover was totally scrapped. If it wasn't already too late. "You were at ground zero."

"And yet, you are in my head. So I am not yet one with the Allspark..." He frowned, humming thoughtfully to himself. "Tell me then, femme, do I still function?"

The two-wheeler nodded, but rushed on before the warlord could interrupt her again. "But there is someone you know who will not be for much longer without your help. He has been infected with Cybonic plague."

She failed to mention that someone's name, knowing that Megatron would much rather that the Prime died.

"Cybonic plague..." His tone grew more concerned than she'd ever heard it before. "Someone besides myself is- is unwell?"

Unable to leave the obvious question unanswered, Terabyte quietly said, "The Prime was infected during the investigation of an Autobot distress."

"Optimus!" Megatron roared, laughing cruelly. "Such irony! But after eons of endless battle, the mighty Optimus Prime is felled by a simple virus from the distant past."

"I came to request that you give me the cure." She said, her voice sounding much braver than she felt.

He cocked an optic ridge, his voice flat. "What makes you think I would save the life of my oldest enemy?"

As if on cue, a phantom of the Prime appeared. "Megatron, your treachery ends-"

With a disgusted grunt, the warlord cut the phantom in half, dissolving the interruption.

Inspiration struck her, and Terabyte pounced on the small bargaining chip she now held. "Because. If you do not, you will never get what you want more than anything."

"Oh, and just what is it you think I want most, femme?" He challenged, his tone very clearly indicating his skepticism.

"To kill Optimus Prime." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing. Somehow, she managed to hide her fear.

Megatron chuckled lightly. "Did you not see? I do slay Optimus by my own hand at will, whenever I please."

"'You are real, they were not.' Lord Megatron, you are only killing ghosts. The real Optimus is now dying by 'a simple virus from the distant past'. You cannot slay the dead." She countered, using his own words against him.

"After our deep history together: to not watch the spark ebb from his optics with my own..." The warlord murmured thoughtfully.

She nodded. "It would be a shame, to fight so long for the great cause, only for – to use the human term – Mother Nature to take the glory..."

Turning his back to her for a moment, Megatron spun around with the formula in his hand. "Well played, spy. Here is the chemical formula for the cure you seek. Not that I expect you to know how to read it."

Analyzing the cure, Terabyte made no indication that she understood the cure. She reached out to take the offered cure, but Megatron closed his fist around it, removing it from her mental reach. Hoping those listening would understand, she said, "I am ready to leave your processor."

He grinned, enjoying taunting her. The warlord didn't realize she had the cure already. "Not yet."

"I thought we had an agreement, Lord Megatron."

"Oh yes, but how am I to accomplish terminating Optimus, as you propose, while I am trapped here in a perpetual daydream?" He shook his helm, holding his hands and the cure behind his back. Megatron's manner was confident, she had played her part and now he was coming out with a trump card of his own. "You must guarantee my recovery or Optimus fades to gunmetal gray - the real Optimus."

Terabyte felt herself beginning to drain away from his mind and she whispered, "I needed to prove myself." She didn't want to lose her standing with the Decepticons. For the moment, she had a foothold in both factions. Megatron was right though... One day she _would_ have to choose, but that was not today.

Megatron's face contorted in anger as, in her optics, the image of Kaon crumbled around them. "You were watching." He shouted, knowing the Autobots could hear him. "You tricked me! No! Take me with you! Take me!"

Terabyte's optics flew open, in her own frame, to be greeted with chaos. Vehicons were shooting at herself and Cliffjumper. Starscream was shrieking at the Vehicons to shoot them, while not even raising his own weapons.

She saw Soundwave and locked her optics on his visor, hoping he got the message. In a moment's notice, she inscribed her report on a tiny microchip – leaving out the coordinates to the base – which she then slipped into a small crevice blown in the wall as she stood and turned to the ground bridge portal behind them.

"C'mon, Short Stuff! Rise and shine, time to go!" Cliffjumper hollered as he backed towards the bridge, guns blazing as he covered her exit. Running through the portal, Terabyte looked back to make sure the red warrior made it through before continuing to the other side.

The bridge room was empty, but they could hear the others in the med-bay. Glancing at each other, the two Cybertronians walked into the med-bay to find everyone gathered. While she and Cliffjumper had been getting back out, Ratchet had been able to synthesize and distribute the cure.

"Steady..." Ratchet warned as he helped Optimus stand.

As soon as the medic let go, everyone broke into cheers and applause. Terabyte merely watched, her mind busy analyzing and re-analyzing her actions, wondering when the interrogation would begin. After all, they now knew that she'd lied to them.

"Please," Optimus said, weakly raising one hand to silence them. "Reserve the hero's welcome for my physician, and my lieutenant."

All around her, the Autobots and children cheered for her, but she didn't hear them. Her jaw dropped behind her mask and her golden optics blinked rapidly. In loose, shocked glyphs, Terabyte privately commed the Prime. _/You knew?/_

_/Indeed. You need not have tried to deceive me, Terabyte./ _He smiled at her sadly. _/You were already of higher rank than you claimed that day I met you the first time in battle. I would have given you the same chance had you simply been honest. I ask that from n-/_

The rest of the Prime's message was lost to her as a warning appeared on her HUD. Until then, she wasn't even aware that such an error was possible in a Cybertronian's processor.

_Warning: Intruder Alert._

_Warning: Intruder Alert._

Her optics grew wide in sheer terror as a far too familiar voice spoke in a singsong tone in her helm. _I'm out... or should I say, in?_

As Megatron's laugh echoed through her mind, Terabyte panicked. Lord Megatron was in her helm. She could feel his every thought, and he could feel hers. Opening her mouth to stutter a response, her armor shrank slightly as her mouth closed against her will.

_Foolish femme! Be silent!_

_M-my lord... How-? _She was so afraid that even her thought processes stuttered.

_You know well enough. _Megatron replied smugly. _I see the answer in your mind. Do not waste my time with pointless queries._

With that, the warlord retreated to the back of her mind, closing himself off to bide his time. For what? Terabyte wondered too late. All she could sense through his barrier was a dark, scheming aura. Whatever he was planning would be very painful for the Autobots.

Of that much, she was sure.

**One Orn Later**

The past orn had passed painfully slow for Terabyte. Every waking moment she was aware of her leader's presence in her mind, each passing klick a struggle to maintain her cover, the ruse of normality, and her own mental stability.

All the while the dark, inaccessible portion of her mind grew, and with it her anxiety. Her leader was slowly but surely taking control of her mind and frame and she was helpless to stop him. The idea of being manipulated was unpleasant enough, but to be manipulated in such a physical sense... scared her.

"-was our newest Autobot who braved the mind of her betrayed leader to obtain the cure." Ratchet said, modestly passing an unheard praise off to her.

Terabyte returned her thoughts to reality at the mention of her. In the dark side of her mind, she felt a wave of anger roll over Megatron's barrier; restraining a shudder, the two-wheeler shook her helm. "Just doing my part. Earning my keep."

"Lucky for us, Megatron was still alive." Arcee commented, making Terabyte flinch away involuntarily. She hadn't noticed the blue and pink femme's approach.

"Did you just-" Terabyte started slowly, not believing her audio receptors.

Arcee laughed lightly. It amazed her just how relaxed the normally hostile femme was acting towards her since her branding. "Yeah. I actually said that."

Ratchet looked at Optimus, who'd just walked out of the CR chamber. "What matters is that you are on the mend, Optimus, while Megatron is-"

"Cliffjumper tried his best to off him. But we were... _evicted_ before we could see the end." She could feel the warlord carefully monitoring her every word, prepared and able to silence her if he so wished.

_'I sincerely hope Knockout saved the body...' _The spy thought as she left the med-bay to return to her quarters, knowing that Megatron's body would be her only chance to regain her mental freedom.

_It is only a matter of time before Optimus discovers that all is not right with you, femme. _Megatron spoke for the first time in the orn since he arrived in her mind. _In order for me to escape your conflicted mind, I must reclaim my body... by taking total control over yours!_

_My lord? _She asked respectfully, certain that she didn't want another in control of her frame.

_Your mind disgusts me, femme. _Megatron snarled, waves of negative feeling radiating from him. _You wear the frame and manner of an adult, yet your mind is that of a lost youngling crying for her parents._

_Have you never cried for your parents, Lord Megatron?_

A small, quickly repressed wave of sorrow snuck through his mental wall, along with a brief image of a charred and twisted frame. _My parents were weak._ The warlord continued with all the strong, perfect conviction she remembered from his great speeches - the very few she'd been able to hear. _The weak must perish to make way for the strong. Such is the way of life._

Before she could stop the rebellious thought, Terabyte made the mental retort, _I'm not sure I want to live your kind of 'life'._

_You claim loyalty to my cause, yet you know very little of what it is. _Megatron spat. _Peace through tyranny has little to do with justice and mercy, lieutenant. I do not know how you have lived among us blindly for so long._

_I fought for what I thought we believed... _She replied, laying down on her berth for the night cycle. _Now I question the foundation of the cause for which I've fought my whole life._

**Next Rotation**

"Okay, Cliffjumper, you're with 'Bee. TB, you can be with Bulk." Miko said firmly.

She shared a look with Bulkhead. "Don't you think the teams would be better balanced a little differently? Maybe with me and Cliff' on one team… Bulkhead and Bumblebee on the other?"

The pink-haired girl grinned morbidly and shook her head, her hair flopping around with the motion. "Nope! The referee has spoken."

Bulkhead groaned, remembering the girl's first rule for the game. "And the referee's word is law."

Terabyte stared at the Lobbing ball in her hands. Then she glanced over at the large green Wrecker who was to be her team mate. Her mind was not really interested in the game, but she didn't want to arouse suspicions.

Miko had just finished explaining the last few rules of basketball to deaf audios. "Basketball by way of Cybertron." The girl announced happily. "Let the games begin!"

Bulkhead passed the ball to her, Terabyte's hands only catching it by reflex. She needed to focus.

The spy locked optics with Cliffjumper and Bumblebee on the third round, judging her opponents' plans, before making a run for the hoop. She didn't 'dribble', but they had agreed to skip this particular part of the game, seeing as their ball was heavy scrap-metal rather than rubber. She'd scored first by sheer luck, but she wasn't very good at the game.

Before she was close enough to shoot, the grinning red Autobot relieved her of the ball with extreme ease due to her lack of concentration. He and Bumblebee passed it back and forth, keeping it away from her and Bulkhead before easily getting the ball through the hoop. At the blow of the whistle, their audience of Jack and Raf started clapping and cheering, Cliffjumper meanwhile doing a little victory dance, whilst Bumblebee did the 'robot'.

"Woohoo, oh yeah! Who's the best?" Cliffjumper sang in an annoyingly smug tone.

"Best two out of three!" Miko, their 'referee' hollered.

Cliffjumper grabbed the ball and passed it to the yellow scout, but Terabyte managed to intercept, the force of his pass making her slide backwards a few feet. Attempting to focus better this round, Terabyte passed the ball over Bumblebee to Bulkhead and had a clear run to the hoop.

Her suspicion that the other team was going easy on her was confirmed when Cliffjumper called from where he stood, "C'mon, TB... Get in the game!"

She kept running, hearing Raf cheer her on. "TB, you're in the clear! Dunk it!"

Bulkhead – fumbling the ball a little bit first - passed the ball to her and she caught it, finishing the run to the hoop and poising herself to score.

Just as she reached the hoop, her frame went stiff. A memory flooded into her mind, her yellow optics widening as she realized it was not her own.

_He was so close! His Terrorcon army was so close, he could almost touch the first one's servos. Curse Optimus and his buffoons, he was so close!_

_A furious roar burst from his vocalizer as all around him, so many quartex of work now literally exploded in his faceplates. For a brief moment, amongst the fiery agony burning through his whole frame, the warlord saw beauty in the purple, green, and blue explosions. Such marvelous beauty, working hand in hand with destruction..._

"Yo, Terabyte! Quit hogging the ball!" Cliffjumper called impatiently, shattering Megatron's memory.

She felt Megatron's fury, and before she knew what was happening, her arm was moving back and throwing the Lobbing ball straight at the mech's head with all the strength she had. The warlord quickly raised the mental barrier again, smoldering wrath filling her mind.

Bumblebee picked up the ball and examined a helm-shaped dent in it, whirring and buzzing in amusement. **"Hard to tell which was dented more…" **He snickered as he teased Cliffjumper, grinning widely. **"You or the ball?"**

Bulkhead looked like he couldn't decide if he should be scolding his team mate or teasing his opponent. "Uh… Is that allowed in 'basketball'?"

"Whoa!" Miko shouted, blowing hard on her whistle as she climbed down the ladder. "Eh... No. Flagrant foul!"

She heard Jack muffling a laugh as he muttered to Raf, "_Dodge_ball by way of Cybertron."

"Not funny." Cliffjumper snapped good-naturedly at Bumblebee as he rubbed his helm, which was now sporting several new scuffmarks and a crushed horn. "Uh, Terabyte? This," he gestured to his helm, "this isn't the hoop."

The two-wheeler groaned. "Sorry?" She asked tentatively, "I don't know what got into me..."

He cocked his helm at her curiously, moving towards her slowly, cautiously. "Hey, you okay?"

"I think I'm going to call it a game... maybe you could get Arcee or Ratchet to take my place… What's the score?"

Cliffjumper frowned, obviously not satisfied with the answer. "Yeah, sure. Two to three in our favor... You _sure_ you're okay?"

She nodded stiffly. "I'm fine, Cliff. Really. Just worn out."

Leaving before he, or anyone else, could ask any more questions, Terabyte was halfway to the mess hall when her frame went stiff again, Megatron keeping her still.

_Now, if I am to return to my own frame, I must first restore it. How did I escape high emission? _Megatron asked himself thoughtfully.

_The icy touch of void space licked at his aching, battered frame. He was barely alive. Opening his violet optics, the Lord Protector was greeted by the disgusting sight of his sniveling Second in Command._

_Pain wracked his frame as the Seeker tore a shard of purple crystal from his chassis; Starscream's lip-plates were curled into a smug grin. He felt the darkness of unconsciousness gripping his mind once more and with a static filled groan, blackness embraced his unwilling mind._

Megatron snarled, his murderous rage boiling in her helm. Hundreds of various prolonged, agonizing, cruelly torturous ways to kill Starscream filled her processors as the warlord fumed. So much pure hate rolled off him, Terabyte felt her morning Energon rising in her tanks. Such desire to torture and kill his own second in command…

_Of course. Dark Energon. __**Starscream.**_

**One Orn, Two Rotations Since Megatron's Escape**

Terabyte stared blankly at the roof above her. Her energy levels were at twenty-eight percent - Autobot Energon was not nearly so refined as Decepticon, making it's effects wear off much quicker - and she hadn't recharged last night cycle because of the warlord within. The scheming, fuming darkness that she'd come to know as Megatron now filled more than half of her processor.

Getting up off her berth, the femme began making her way to the mess hall for fuel. Once she reached the hall however, her pedes stopped. Terabyte felt herself turn and walk to the main chamber. It was as if she was merely an observer, watching a strange holovid in first person view.

Megatron was controlling her movements. Instinctively, the spy resisted each step, sensing the warlord's furious determination. Anyone or thing that dared get in his way would have a lifetime guarantee that it would never do so again.

She had a feeling that that unfortunate fellow wouldn't be needing that guarantee for very long.

_A wise conclusion, femme. _Megatron praised, even his mental tone unreadable. Growing slightly annoyed as he continued, _And yet you resist me. Why?_

She looked down at the medical instrument that he had stopped in front of. _I could dispose of you just as easily as any other. _The warlord threatened. _Once I have my body back, yours will have served its purpose._

A flicker of fear passed through her and she forced herself into submission. She now knew that the mech would have no qualms against off-lining her on a whim. _F-forgive me, my lord. A momentary lapse of judgment that will not happen again, Lord Megatron._

_Yes... obey my will, femme... _The unspoken threat hung in her mind. Obey, or suffer the wrath of Megatron.

As he spoke, Terabyte felt her servos wrap around the instrument, crushing it loudly. She winced as the bent metal dug into her hand.

Ratchet stomped out of his office, yelling, "Bulkh- Terabyte!?" He seemed surprised that the green Wrecker was not actually responsible. "I _needed_ that!"

Not knowing what else to do, Terabyte put the ruined tool down, the warlord having relinquished his control over her for the time being. "Sorry."

"Sorry? What has gotten into you?" The medic growled.

"I am having... visions. Memories not my own." She explained carefully. For the moment, she couldn't have cared less about her mission or her duty. She had had the angry warlord in her helm long enough.

"Hmm... odd." Frowning for a moment, the medic steered her to med-bay, sitting her down on one of the berths. His optics dimmed as he commed someone, then the medic began running several scans over her.

"Well?" Terabyte asked impatiently, struggling to maintain in control of herself. She could feel the warlord's frustration and his angry roars were making it difficult to concentrate.

Ratchet hummed, but didn't answer, instead saying, "Lay down, I need to run a deeper scan."

She complied, and instantly the Autobot medic plugged several wires into her frame. Her finials twitched. Pede-falls and human footsteps were rapidly approaching the med-bay.

"Ratchet, what is the situation?"

The Prime's regal tone instantly brought Terabyte into an upright position, painfully jerking out several of the medic's cords in the process. Ratchet, with his wonderful berth-side manners, roughly shoved her back into the berth with a grunt.

"Stay put." Turning to the Prime, the medic answered his question, "Terabyte is complaining of intermittent visions… Waking nightmares, if you will."

Raf clambered up onto the berth to stare into her optics with his own worried eyes. "But you said Tera was fine when you checked her over last week."

Terabyte flinched slightly at the shortened version of her name, but decided to let it pass with the youngling. It was strange, really, the way she'd come to trust the squishy so quickly. It had hardly even been four quartex since she met him. Yet she trusted him completely. Then again, he was only a human child… no past angers to smooth over first.

"Physically, but the experience she endured seems to be having a temporary effect on her psyche." Ratchet explained patiently. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought he cared… The strange thing was, that even though she did know better, she still couldn't shake the feeling that they were all genuinely concerned for her – a Decepticon defector's – wellbeing. "This induced power-down should force Terabyte's mind to rest and recover."

Cliffjumper, whose horn was still crushed from their basketball game earlier, scowled impatiently at the medic. "Well? If it's gonna fix her, why haven't you done it yet?"

She sat up slowly, for the second time tearing the attached wires from her frame. "I don-"

"Ah-ah-ah! I said stay put!" Ratchet interrupted her, once again shoving her back into the berth and reattaching the wiring. "Move another micron and I'll weld you to that berth."

Behind her somewhere, Terabyte heard an embarrassed chuckle from Cliffjumper. "I think you better listen to the Doc this time, TB… He's not kidding."

The two-wheeler laughed, hoping she wasn't moving too much… just in case. "Advice from experience, I take it?"

She took his awkward silence for a 'yes'.

"Initiating forced power-down." Ratchet said, very pointedly ignoring everyone in the room.

As Terabyte felt her systems shutting down, she heard a darkly pleased laugh from the Megatron-filled side of her processor. _Yes… Force __**your**__ mind to rest and recover… Allowing __**mine**__ total control!_

Panic struck her in her last moment of consciousness. She screamed, trying to tear out the cords before it was too late, feeling the void engulfing her. "Wait! Stop! This is what Megat-"

Her vocalizer shut off with a hiss of static, and the Prussian blue frame fell limp against the berth as darkness swallowed her mind.


	25. Pure Evil

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 25**

**Pure Evil**

_Mechs and femmes of all size and colors swarmed the square, pushing and shoving their way through to wherever they were headed. She had forgotten that this was the busiest and worst time of orn to be in town._

_Towards the front of the armor shop, after standing in line for nearly a joor, the femme was almost there. A big, tan mech with purple accents shoved his way out of the busy throng, stopping right next to her. Seeing as there were a whole lot of people right next to her, the little femme didn't notice._

_Until she saw his face._

_"Are you ze one reeshponseeble for touching my vings? Because-" The calm blue face with the red optic lens suddenly swiveled to reveal an angry red face with a hole between the top denta._

_"-I vill __**crush**__ your peshky leettle shervos unteel you-" At this point the red face swiveled to be replaced with a pitch black face whose scribbled features twitched spasmodically. He held his hands together, mockingly batting his optics, one leg lifted slightly off the ground._

_"-r shtrangely flat, bleeue face eez shining vith ze utmosht glee-" His face switched back to the red one and he leveled his cannons back on her helm. "-and you are writhing in __**agony **__on ze floor!"_

_As the femme gazed on, she realized that the mech didn't have any face at all... that was how he could switch between them. His face was just an advanced holo-projection of some sort... somewhere between a hologram and a holo-form._

_"Vell?" She looked back up to see the blue face staring down at her in calculating disdain. "Can you not shpeak?"_

_She inclined her helm, respectfully pointing out the absurdity of his query. "My apologies, I do not know if I touched your wings or not. We are standing in a bustling crowd."_

_The red face frowned, confused by her simple words. She hadn't seen it change. "Oh... Can I steell crush your leettle shervos?" He switched faces back to the blue one, who seemed the most sane. "Your shtatement eez logical. I vill not harm you, my lady."_

_He bowed and reached for her servo just as his face changed over to the psychotic one. He - rather vigorously - smashed her hand against his face where his lips ought to have been, confirming her earlier observation. He didn't have a solid face._

_She cocked an optic ridge at the tan triple-changer, her processors still struggling to process the mech's strangeness. He laughed somewhat creepily, still wearing the crazy face and opening his arms wide. "Ze name eez Blitzving... and I like warm hugs!"_

_Chuckling nervously, the two-wheeler looked around for an escape. She had little doubts that the nut job would hug her if she stayed. The femme shuddered. Not the hugging type._

_"Next!" The armor smith yelled over the noise of the people._

_"Nice meeting you, Blitz! Bye!" As she ran into the shop, the spy muttered, "Hope I never see that creep again."_

_She'd never been so glad to see the measurements drone._

"-nd Pilar asked me why I thought the school bully could become a nice guy," Terabyte vaguely heard Raf tell her. She could hear him, but it was like he was really far away. "And I told her it was because I knew someone else that used to be a bully and now she's one of my best friends…"

Terabyte would have smiled if she were able to move her face. For that matter, simply being _able_ to move would make her smile at this point.

_You foolish boy! When will you be silent? _Megatron roared in frustration. She could feel his disgust and desire to extinguish the boy. He was pretending that her frame was still in power down, waiting for the medic nearby to leave. _I am Megatron! Conqueror of worlds! I do not care about your miserably trivial squishy existence!_

_I won't allow you to harm him. _Terabyte informed her leader firmly.

"-w you." Raf was explaining to Ratchet, pausing to show the medic something. "This is my family."

"M-hmm. Yes. How nice." The medic muttered, not really paying much attention to the youngling.

Megatron tore her attention away from Raf again with his challenging enquiry. _Oh really. And, since you have no control of your own frame, how do you propose you will enforce such a bold decision?_

_I won't allow you to harm him. _She repeated, more firmly than before. _This is still my body and I will defend the innocent._

_Would you fight your own leader for a single organic? _Megatron countered, knowing that she still hadn't chosen a side.

_I would fight for the life of an innocent child; species is irrelevant._

"-bee and Terabyte always listen to me." Raf explained quietly. "Even when no one else thinks it's important."

Ratchet stood there silent for a while before returning to whatever he was working on. Raf continued talking to her while he did his homework on his laptop.

"Tera, you don't have to stay so reserved around us, you know." Raf told her gently.

Ratchet came over and interrupted to say, "Rafael, I'm going to the supply vault to see if I can find a replacement part for this broken holo-projector. You know what that means right?"

"Don't touch anything." Raf said drily, smiling up at the medic as he left. "Like I was telling Ratchet, you're family too. You don't have to hide so much from us…"

Terabyte felt her optics open, but they held a cold glare. Megatron lowered her mask and her lips were curled up in a confidently disdainful smirk. He wanted to simply step on the boy, but after several astroseconds of internal struggle, Terabyte pushed her pede out just past where Raf was seated on the floor.

The warlord wore her frame with the air of a large and powerful mech, rather than the small spy that her frame was designed to be.

Raf jumped up and smiled. "Tera, you're awake!" When she just kept walking towards the ground bridge terminal without so much as acknowledging the boy, his voice got a little worried. "Tera? Terabyte!"

Her servos flew over the keys as the warlord typed in the coordinates to… the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Where Cliffjumper had told her he'd made the zombie army the second day since her arrival at their base. She felt a grudgingly pleased wave from Megatron, who'd been impressed by her typing speed. Apparently she'd learned well under Soundwave after all.

"Terabyte, wait!" Raf called, tugging on her diamond shaped knee-plate insistently.

Again she felt her leader's urge to terminate the 'annoying grease stain', but she fought her way into temporary control, long enough to gently push the boy away from her and step towards the green portal.

"Raf, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" She whispered quickly, feeling Megatron regaining control, making speech increasingly difficult. "You need to stay away from me. I-I can't be trusted r-"

Her vocalizer shut off with a hiss of static as Megatron shoved her aside and took control over her frame once again. He abruptly turned away from the boy and stalked through the portal, ignoring Raf's pleas to stay.

Appearing in a dark, desolate canyon, Megatron looked around impatiently. He was using her upgraded scanners to search for something… catching a brief image of an ominously pulsating violet shard from his thoughts, Terabyte realized the warlord was searching for Dark Energon.

"Where is it?" She heard her own voice snarl. It was her voice, and yet it wasn't. It sounded harsher, angrier… and cold. Deathly cold. "Where!?"

_He stood atop the canyon ridge, looking down at Optimus and his medic. Behind him lightning cut across the cloudy night sky, making him laugh at how fitting it was for the occasion. It was indeed a dark and stormy night. For Optimus Prime anyway._

_Raising his fist, which held the shard of Unicron's blood, Megatron threw the shard with all his might, plunging it into the earth. As soon as the shard touched the ground, it was absorbed into the earth, to erupt out again in a charred mound, sending a web of cracks across the canyon floor as it awakened the dead of Cybertron to do his bidding._

_Ah, yes._ Megatron spun around and strode straight over to where he now remembered the shard had landed. Bending over, Terabyte watched her servos wrap possessively around the purple shard. If she were able to shudder she would have been hard pressed not to. The glowing shard seemed to have a... presence. As if it were alive.

Hearing the distinctive whoosh of an activating ground bridge portal, Megatron turned around, cocking an optic ridge. Terabyte tried to hide her brief amusement as she felt a minor disgruntled thought flash through her mind as Megatron realized that her optic ridges were smaller and less intimidating than his own.

"How convenient." She heard herself say, regarding the bridge.

Terabyte, spectator only in her own body, walked through the portal, her servos still tightly gripping the Dark-En shard. Every moment the femme was painfully aware of her revealed faceplates.

"Terabyte." Ratchet greeted her with suspicion, optics narrowing as he noticed the absence of the mask she was so determined to keep raised. A smug, sarcastic grin twisted her lip-plates. "What have you been doing?" Megatron ignored him, approaching with a slow and confident swagger. The medic caught a glimpse of the shard in her hand. "Dark Energon?"

When she kept approaching, Ratchet grew more concerned. The warlord ignored him still, and he started tapping in new coordinates into the ground bridge.

"Terabyte, stop." Ratchet commanded, pulling her hands away from the console.

She felt her lips curl up in a menacing grin, feeling the warlord's anticipation. "Bad move, Medic."

Terabyte mentally cringed as the warlord quickly and painfully scanned her battle tactics database, absorbing everything she'd ever learned of the arts of war. Once he was satisfied, Megatron slid between the medic's pedes, rising behind him to deliver a hard kick to a particularly sensitive joint in his back. Ratchet collapsed to the floor with a grunt, momentarily unable to move as his nervous systems glitched.

She felt herself bend down and pick up Raf, her servos closing around him, ready to crush the life out of the youngling. With a mental growl, Terabyte threw a memory file of a human movie at Megatron's mind, distracting the warlord long enough for her to gain motor control.

"Terabyte? Tera? What are you doing?" Raf asked her, worry shaking his voice. She could feel his squishy human heart pounding against her armor as she held him gently.

Walking over to a vent in the wall, Terabyte carefully set him down on the outside ledge of the vent. She looked at him sadly, her expression pained as she fought to maintain control over herself. "Raf, you need to stay away from me. I can't be trusted un-"

Once again the warlord shut her vocalizer off before she could tell the boy what he needed to know. As Megatron turned around and finished putting in the coordinates of the Nemesis, Raf called after her.

"Terabyte! You've got to stop this, I know you're better than this! You're not a Decepticon any more, you don't have to do this!"

Megatron walked up to the swirling portal and looked back to sneer, her voice darkly amused. "You should be glad to be alive, Boy."

With that, the warlord walked through the portal, emerging in the mess hall of the Nemesis. She felt Megatron throw her icy golden gaze over the mechs in the room. They had hardly noticed her appearance.

She felt a wave of Megatron's annoyance as he climbed onto the nearest table to give him more height. Charging her cannon, he blasted the roof to get everyone's attention. Once everyone's optics were on her, Megatron spoke with all the volume and dignity of the Decepticon leader... in her voice.

"Loyal troops! I, Megatron, give you one warning. Leave now, if you value your sparks!"

The Vehicons shared meaningful glances all around the room before they all roared with laughter.

"Awww... The pretty little femme can't hold her high grade." One mech crooned condescendingly.

"Hey! Isn't that the traitor?" Another mech asked.

Megatron and Terabyte both growled, she hadn't ever touched high-grade and never would. The warlord was infuriated by the lack of respect from his troops, though she wasn't sure how he had expected them to recognize him in her frame. Murderous rage flooded her processor from Megatron, and in that one moment, Terabyte knew, with greater horror than she'd felt since Protihex, just exactly what the warlord was going to do.

Everyone in this room was going to die.

Terabyte felt her body flying from one Vehicon to the next, using all of the skills she knew. She had only ever used those skills - to the extent that Megatron was now using them - twice in her life outside of simulations: when she killed Pyro and when she tried to kill Seaspray.

She watched and felt in horror as her dagger was plunged into the spark of a Vehicon named Iceclaw. She cringed mentally as her cannon blasted the helm of Handles right off his body. In her mind, Terabyte curled herself up into a ball as she was forced to witness such pointless slaughter at her own hands.

Her photographic memory provided her with each mech's name and job as Megatron killed them.

Screwdriver from engineering...

Lasercore from statistical tactics...

Solaris from communications and intel...

Upload and Download from medical...

The lists rolled on until finally the room was silent. All around her lay gray frames. A few wires gave out residual sparks and fizzles. Not a single mech had survived Megatron's fury.

With a morbid pleasure, the warlord continued on his way, not a passing thought regarding the slain touched his sick mind. No, Terabyte corrected herself, his mind wasn't just sick... It was evil.

Pure evil.

As he continued towards the lab where his frame was held, Megatron simply offlined any mechs he saw, before they could sound the alarms. She sensed with every termination that the warlord was not simply offing them; he was playing with her skill set as he off-lined them. That was what horrified her the most: he was killing his own loyal soldiers out of mere curiosity.

Looking down at his own lifeless frame, Megatron laughed. _Oh, but you see... Your hands wear their life-En and your skills brought them death. So who is really responsible for their deaths: me? Or you?_

His accusation struck her so hard that she regained control of her own frame again... Just long enough for her to purge her tanks all over Megatron's pedes.

The warlord, back in control, groaned and made a disgusted face. _I ought to terminate you for that._

_Ought to?_ She asked miserably.

_With such skills however... you may yet serve me. Willingly or not._

How could he force her to serve him? Through threats? Torture? Terabyte didn't have time to formulate a reply, her train of thought interrupted by Raf's voice crying, "Ratchet! Don't hurt Terabyte!"

Hearing the warning, Megatron spun around just in time to brace himself as the medic charged yelling, "That's not Terabyte!"

She winced internally as his fist collided with her abdomen, still feeling the pain just as strongly in spite of not being in bodily control. In the surprise, Megatron had forgotten her size and was fighting back with brute force, which in her case was just barely enough to fend off the medic's attacks. Taking several more hard blows, the warlord finally grunted and blasted the medic out the door into the hallway, melting the locking mechanism into slag with a second shot to keep him out.

Terabyte's fist rose in the air, prepared to plunge the Dark Energon shard into Megatron's shiny silver chassis.

"Terabyte, don't!" Raf shouted desperately. "You don't want to do this! You aren't one of them anymore, you've got to fight him! Remember who you are! Don't let him use you, Terabyte. You've got to choose for yourself."

She lowered her hand - of her own will - and looked at him, her gaze and expression instantly twisting to show the pained horror she still felt. "Raf?"

"That's right! It's me. I'm right here." He sighed with relief, flashing her a weak smile. "I knew you always listened."

_No! I am too close to be thwarted by a sparkling. _Megatron roared, attacking her mind. She panicked as he threw up barriers and firewalls around her mind, building them faster than she could hack them.

She screamed, clutching her helm as burning fire seared through it in his anger. Falling with a crash to her knee-plates, Terabyte pressed her helm into the cold metal floor, trying to ignore the searing agony as she vainly fought the mental blockade.

"Raf... run!"

Letting out one final howl, Terabyte lost all awareness of the outer world. She couldn't see, hear, or feel anything. Not even her own frame. Only darkness. Vast, unending void.

Coolant rolled down her mental face-plates and she hugged her mental knee-plates, shaking back and forth, keening loudly. She wasn't sure exactly what she was crying for. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.

Everything seemed more fitting. She mourned the sparks Megatron just sent to the Allspark that rotation. She mourned Raf and what would no doubt be his fate at the evil warlord's hands. She mourned her indecision and her predicament. And she mourned that she hadn't seen how wrong the Decepticons were until now.

She still couldn't say for certain that the Autobots were right. She still could never forgive them for what they'd done to her family and her home. But surely, anything was better than what she'd just witnessed to be the new spark of the Decepticon cause. They had lost sight of the things they had once fought for: Cybertron, peace, justice... Now they had become corrupt, seeking only power.

A small hand landed on her shoulder gently, making her jump. Opening her optics, Terabyte looked down to find Raf standing next to her looking worried.

"Terabyte?" He asked tentatively, "A-are you going to be okay?"

Ratchet huffed, his voice failing to completely hide his own worry. Apparently he'd managed to get back in. "Physical damage is negligible, she may experience significant bruising, but she's perfectly fine."

"M-Megatron?" She croaked, her vocalizer hitching.

Raf averted his gaze. "I tried to stop y-him."

"What-" Her optics narrowed as she saw the beginnings of a nasty, purple discoloration that appeared to cover his whole right side... As though he'd been slapped with a Cybertronian-sized hand. Her voice filled with hate and loathing towards herself. "What. Did. I. Do?"

The boy looked away. "It's nothing, really... and you didn't do it, not really... Megatron did it, just with your hand..."

Terabyte ran a regenerative scan over Raf several times until she was positive that all the soft skin tissue was healed completely. She gently prodded the area that had been bruised.

"Better?" She asked him hopefully.

He looked at her then at his skin then back at her, his eyes wide, a small grin tugging at his lips. "Whoa... some sort of dermal regeneration ray?"

The Prussian blue spy nodded, smiling at the youngling, knowing from her excursions in human television just what the boy was thinking.

"Cool! It's like... Star Trek!" Raf exclaimed happily.

"Where did you get that?" Ratchet asked suspiciously, knowing that that particular scanning frequency required a special medic-grade optical implant.

"I had Knockout install it before we left Cybertron..." Terabyte smirked as she remembered the red mech's perfect compliance. He'd never questioned her too much after that incident with her cannon...

"Why?"

The femme wasn't quite sure why it mattered so much, but she answered anyway. "Um, I knew we'd be stopping at organic worlds for trade and restock. I thought it might come in handy."

Ratchet scowled. "You had an incredibly painful and expensive implant that is only used for restricted personnel... because you thought it might come in handy."

She could tell he didn't believe her. "Is it so wrong that I wanted to save and protect the innocents of the worlds we looted? The phase-sixers are not gentle."

Raf looked up at her curiously. "Megatron approved?"

"He didn't know. KO and I had a certain... understanding." She muttered, remembering that her mask was still down. Snapping it up moodily, Terabyte checked her proximity sensors, "We've got 'Cons coming. You can judge my having a spark back at base."

She held out her hand for Raf to step up and she stood, carefully holding the boy in the palm of her hand. Setting the human on her shoulder she waited for him to get safely positioned and grab hold of her shoulder plate before turning to the medic. For the time being, she couldn't afford to think about what had happened. Right now they needed to leave.

"Let's go... I want to get out of this place."

"Agreed."

As they proceeded, they turned a corner and ran straight into a squad of Vehicon troopers. Ratchet pulled out his blasters and shifted into a fighting stance, the Vehicon squad mirroring him.

Terabyte thought about the mess hall full of dead and pushed the medic's weapons aside. She growled at the Vehicons, "Put your guns down, walk away, and forget you saw us."

"Or what, Tiny?" The leader, a mech named Dullnut, sneered.

Her optics hardened as she tried to stop the flow of gray, dead faces in her mind. "You been to the mess hall recently? Maybe Corridor 118?"

She watched as simultaneously every mech's faceplates fell slack. There was a sound of rustling metal as armor shrank to their frames. Instantly, Dullnut moved his weapons to a casual position. Clearing his vocalizer, he said to his squad, "C'mon, mechs! Nothing to see here."

The rest of their way out was oddly clear, not a trooper in sight. Once they were clear of the Nemesis and she'd set Raf down, Ratchet suddenly turned on her, turquoise optics blazing.

He grabbed her by her neck and lifted her off the ground so she was at optic level, shaking her roughly. "What the pit was that? We do not use scare tactics! How do you expect anyone to join our cause if you make them think we're just as bad as the next 'Con?!"

Not regretting her actions for a moment, Terabyte hung in his grasp and calmly countered, "And what were you going to do? Terminate them all? How is that better? I let them go."

"I- Bu- That's-" Ratchet spluttered angrily before setting her down awkwardly. "I suppose you do have a valid point. You're the the last person I'd expect to care though."

She looked away. "Thanks to Megatron, I've killed enough today, don't you think?"

Raf put a comforting hand on her pede and smiled up at her sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault, Tera. C'mon, let's go home."

Right as he said that, a team comm-line opened. Prime sent a weary, _/Ratchet, we need a bridge./_

They walked up to the top of a small snow hill and looked down at where just a little further off, the Autobots were gathered. Raf waved at Bumblebee happily.

_/You're not the only ones./_

In the end, Jack and Miko had got a bridge for everyone when they got back to base after school. Now, a groon later, life at base had returned to normal for all but Terabyte.

She sat unmoving on the stair case, laying against the wall and staring blankly at the room in front of her. She couldn't stop thinking about all the mechs she'd killed under Megatron's control, and how badly she'd hurt Raf. She almost killed him!

Out of habit, Terabyte started writing her report, putting down the names of every single off-lined Vehicon. The casualty list was so long, making the quartex report twice the length of her usual, and she still had almost three whole orns left in the quartex.

As she thought about it, Terabyte couldn't help but make the observation: killing was so much easier when one was firing at a distance, when one didn't know the victims by name, when there was a cause by which to justify it. Reading a casualty report wasn't so personal.

She wouldn't have felt so bad if Megatron had had a reason for killing them. But he hadn't. They were simply in his way. He was in a bad mood and a different frame with a new skill set to experiment with.

Several breems later, the physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted femme relaxed against the wall, though her armor remained defensively flared. Across the room, Cliffjumper smiled fondly at the little recharging femme that he'd begun to see as the little sister he'd never had. With Megatron in her mind for over an orn... It would take time for her to heal.

**Afternoon, two days later.**

Skyquake stared up at the steel roof of the brig, weighing his options. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to break out and escape, but he wasn't sure where he'd go. Terabyte was here with the Autobots, and now that he had most of his memories back, the more he thought about it, the less the Decepticons had to offer him.

He needed to fight to perform his duty to Cybertron, but the Decepticons weren't doing anything for their homeworld. They hadn't really even made an effort to end the war either. More important even than that though, it was his duty to Terabyte as the only friend he had left in this war. He couldn't very well protect her if he was caught on the other side of the battlefield.

It'd been more than an orn since Terabyte had visited and he'd thought long and hard on the matter since then. Today, Skyquake had made up his mind. He was going to join the Autobots. For Terabyte.

Optimus Prime walked in and turned off the force field. Nodding slightly, he greeted the jet, "Skyquake."

"Prime."

Now that the formal greetings had been made, both mechs started talking at the same time.

"I want to join the Autobots." Skyquake said quickly, at the same time as Prime said, "I wish to offer you the chance to leave your Decepticon past behind and-"

The Autobot trailed off and the Prime's cobalt optics lit up as he realized what the fighter jet had just said. "You understand that this will not be easy?"

Skyquake nodded firmly, his mind made up. "I understand and accept whatever conditions you may have. I am serious in this, I wish to join the faction that has become home and family to Terabyte." He pulled out all of his weapons from subspace, completely disarming himself; and making a rather impressive pile of weapons on the table. "As a show of good faith: this my full armament, for you to do with as you please."

The scarlet and blue mech's optics shuttered for a moment as he processed Skyquake's action and demeanor before he smiled warmly. "It will be an honor to accept you into our family, Skyquake."

Skyquake saw the all too familiar mist of sorrow cross the Prime's optics. He'd seen that look in Terabyte's optics whenever she thought of her family and destroyed home. He'd felt it himself too often to count. It was the look of remembrance of a loved one or close friend lost.

The jet knew the comrade Prime was thinking about. He remembered killing the tactician and second in command of the Autobots. Skyquake didn't regret offlining Prowl. He hadn't done it for the promotion he got, or the glory, and definitely not pleasure. He never enjoyed the termination of the enemy. It was his duty, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

No, he'd killed Prowl because the Enforcer had tried to kill Terabyte.

He'd been so scared that rotation. When he'd seen her take that hit, heard her scream as she hit the ground... The jet had been terrified that she was offlined. If she had been dead...

Shuddering convulsively, the mech stood stiffly to attention. "Sir! Requesting an Autobot regulations and conduct manual, and conditions of defection, sir."

The Prime nodded. "I will have a datapad prepared and living arrangements made by morning. Until then, good cycle, Skyquake."

"Good cycle... Optimus Prime."


	26. A Change of Direction

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 26**

**A Change of Direction**

_The silver figure shivered, cringing away from the light as it cut through the darkness like a sword. A wild, animalistic shriek escaped the figure as the light touched the sensitive wing armor for the first time in quartex._

_"D-Darkshine?" Shadowlight, for that was who the pitiful scrap of a Cybertronian had once been, croaked hopefully. _

_The spy shook her helm gently, hardly believing her friend's state. "No, Shadow, it's me: Terabyte."_

_The silver Seeker femme grinned brightly, looking for a moment like the femme she was before Darkshine's death. Running up to her, Shadowlight embraced her tightly. "Oh, thank Primus you're alive!"_

_She returned the Seeker's hug, feeling her friend's happy tears dripping into her armor. Shadowlight rubbed her back consolingly, "I'm so sorry they couldn't salvage your frame... better a spark transplant than terminating though right? Right, 'Shine?"_

_The desperate tone broke her spark, and the two-wheeler couldn't bring herself to try and convince the jet that she wasn't her twin. From what she could tell of Shadowlight's mental state, no amount of arguing would sway her anyway._

_"Yeah..." She agreed sadly. "Have you been well cared for? Are you happy? Because I will bring anything you need or want."_

_Shadowlight laughed and patted the air beside her. "Oh, it's lovely here, Shine. You, Terabyte, and Nightracer come visit me all the time and I have this beautiful view over Kaon. I do wish I had a couch though."_

_She bit her lip-plates, this was the first time she or anyone else had visited. The guards didn't even have to take her Energon because of the automatic replicator. Seeing Shadowlight like this was just... agonizing. Nevertheless she nodded bravely. _

_Glancing around at the dark, windowless enclosure, her spark twisted in pity. No wonder the Seeker femme had lost her sanity. Seekers can't take closed spaces. And twins can't handle the loss of their other half. For the remaining twin to survive the other's death was incredibly rare. For them to remain sane was even rarer. Judging by the erratic way the jet femme's spark was pulsing, the femme's time was coming to an end. Perhaps it would be kinder to let her spark reunite with the Allspark, than for her to continue in this state._

_"Tell you what, Shadow. I'm going to go for right now, but I promise I'll be back tomorrow... and I'll bring some things to brighten this place up, okay?"_

_Shadowlight nodded enthusiastically, looking over at the wall where a crude stick drawing had been carved. "That's sounds good, what do you think Thunderblast?" The jet paused then nodded. "Oh cool idea! See if you can't find some more curtains, Shine."_

_The spy followed Shadowlight's gaze over to two pillars of half-empty Energon cubes. One side was shorter than the other. "I can certainly do that for you. See you tomorrow Shadow. I swear I'll be back."_

_As she walked out and to her quarters, the spy stopped by the personal items request sign up and filled all of her allotted spaces for the quartex with home supplies for Shadowlight. If it had been possible she would have simply brought their own things, but the twins' belongings were all confiscated and redistributed already._

_From that rotation on, she never failed to visit Shadowlight every chance she got, bringing commodities each visit. Very quickly, the dungeon-like cell was cozy and comfortable both in appearance, accommodations, and general atmosphere._

_Her frequent visits were good for Shadowlight's mental state as well. Often times she was almost able to forget that the jet wasn't all there. The spy couldn't help but wonder if she could have kept her friend sane had she only visited sooner._

Ratchet gaped at his long time friend, not wanting to believe his audios. "What?!"

The Prime patiently repeated himself, "I said, I am going to grant Skyquake parole."

"I heard what you said." The medic snapped. "Are you out of your processors?! I don't care if it worked with Prowl. He was a one time exception!" He slammed his wrench into the tabletop, bending the tool and denting the table. "You can't just naively trust every 'Con that hands you his gun and says please and thank you!"

"Ratchet, calm yourself." Optimus said quietly but firmly.

"No! If you think I'm going to let you get us all killed because you decided to just pass out the Autobot insignia like candy, then you're more glitched than I thought!" He roared, flinging the ruined wrench at Optimus. The calm mech didn't even flinch as the projectile passed microns from his helm.

"As if it weren't bad enough dealing with Terabyte, whose loyalty is _shaky_ at best," Ratchet ranted as he stomped around his med-bay looking for something else to throw. "Now you want to add a well-known war criminal, who's already sent several of our elite to the Well, to our barely manageable list of problems!"

"Ratchet, this is not a decision I take lightly, not now with Skyquake nor with Terabyte." Optimus said with confidence, paying little heed to the medic's temper. "As for Terabyte's loyalty, I do not wish to hear you question it again. She has been misled by the Decepticons, but I believe she will come to see that. In her spark, Terabyte knows what is right; she just does not know who is wrong yet."

Ratchet snorted derisively, but he knew that nothing he could say would sway Optimus. "If either one of them is lying... If either one of them betrays us, they'll do it together and it will bring the end of this war through our termination. I only hope you know just how much you are putting at stake here, Prime."

**Meanwhile...**

Terabyte stuck her helm around the corner, peeking in to make sure Skyquake hadn't already began recharging for the night cycle. He hadn't. The mech was glaring at his carefully bridged servos, deep in thought.

Pulling down her mask, the femme walked in and quietly shut down the force field, sitting down beside him wordlessly. She stared into the two cubes of Energon she'd brought for them. The blue liquid glowed brightly, swirling of its own accord in the cube.

After nearly a breem, Skyquake jerked his helm up as if waking from a trance. He still hadn't noticed her presence.

Silently setting down one cube, Terabyte playfully poked him in the shoulder. "Hi."

"Hi." Skyquake repeated, giving her a weird look.

She grinned awkwardly, handing him the larger of the two Energon cubes. "So... I brought you dinner..."

He grabbed the proffered cube and took a sip. "Thanks."

The two of them sat and drank their Energon in an oppressively awkward silence for another breem before Skyquake finally spoke up sheepishly, "So... er... how long had you been sitting there before I noticed?"

Terabyte smiled, knowing that the question had been nagging at him. "Oh, only about a breem or so." She shrugged lightly. "What were you thinking about? Seemed pretty... deep."

The jet's optics dimmed slightly as he thought about it more. Finally he said, "I asked Prime to let me defect."

The smile slid off her faceplates. "You did what?"

"I asked Prime to let me defect." He repeated, confused by her reaction. "I'm joining the Autobots."

"Why on Cybertron did you do that?!" She couldn't believe her audials.

The mech's loyalty to the Decepticons was unwavering! Yet here he was telling her he was defecting. Granted, her own loyalty to the Decepticons was somewhat lacking after sharing minds with Megatron... but she certainly wasn't duty bound to the Autobots. To be perfectly honest with herself, she was a neutral again –at least in her mind.

Skyquake frowned. "For you. Since you're an Autobot now... I thought you'd be happy."

"I-I am..." She started to explain hesitantly.

The jet smirked. "You sound so confident, I'm greatly reassured." He responded sarcastically.

Terabyte ignored him. "It's just... I'm still not sure if we're on the right side. I mean, I just had Megatron in my helm, so I know the Decepticons have lost sight of our cause... but how can we be sure that the Autobots-"

"Tera," Skyquake interrupted, his deep voice gentle. "The cause you fought for, and taught me to fight for, that was never the Decepticons' cause. You were sheltered."

His words hit her like a physical blow. "No I-"

"The moral standards you hold, and slowly taught me to, are very Autobot, Terabyte." His expression was pained. "Megatron... He tolerated your contradictory beliefs and made a great effort to keep you... ignorant of what we really believed."

Her yellow optics dimmed and her shoulders slumped as she processed this information. Everything she'd believed about the Decepticons was wrong? If that was true... every Autobot she'd killed in the name of peace and justice... died for the very cause she'd thought she was upholding.

"B-but why...?"

Skyquake looked away, but continued to explain. "Three reasons: you were dead loyal, one of our most skilled agents, and... you're... you're a femme. Most Decepticon femmes either defected or were killed. Femmes are pretty rare... but Decepticon femmes are even rarer... even then."

"So Makeshift... a-and you..." Her voice broke painfully and she scooted away from the mech she thought she knew. Her battle mask rose and clicked into place. "Y-you were lying to me all along?"

He turned towards her, his voice pleading and gravelly, which she knew meant that he was desperate. Or at least that's what she had thought. Terabyte wasn't sure she knew him anymore... She wondered if she'd ever really known him. If it was all a lie.

"I was given the assignment the groon you arrived... I was only following orders, Tera..."

She stood up, cutting him off, her tone empty as she looked at him like he was a stranger. "I thought I knew you. I thought we were friends. But you were just in charge of keeping the new femme fooled. Just following orders like a good soldier."

As she turned to leave, Terabyte felt hollow. She wasn't angry, or sad, or even confused. Just empty. Too much to process. As if her life wasn't complicated enough right now. Skyquake leapt up and grabbed her hand, making her turn around and cock a coldly questioning optic ridge.

"Tera, listen to me. That was only in the beginning... You changed that. I wouldn't be the mech I am if it weren't for you. Tera-"

"You'd be offline if it weren't for me." Terabyte pointed out.

He smiled weakly, readily agreeing. "Slagged thrice over."

In spite of everything, the spy laughed, giving him a light shove. Bringing up their age old running joke, she teased accusingly, "Pin cushion."

He grinned in fond remembrance. Making a mock bow, Skyquake gently kissed the top of her hand, ruby optics twinkling. "My lady."

Retracting her mask Terabyte grinned before sobering. "Sky, I have to ask... how much was-"

His faceplates went tight. Stiffly he said, "Terabyte..."

She shook her helm firmly. "How much?"

Skyquake sighed deeply and his whole frame sagged. "Twenty quartex, three orns, eleven rotations, two joors, seven breems, four point nine astroseconds."

The femme stared, her mouth ajar. "You remembered to the exact second?"

He averted his gaze guiltily. "I was- I meant to tell you long before now... I should have."

A tiny, sparkling something fell onto his chest with the tinkling sound of liquid on metal. Terabyte realized with a shock that it was optic fluid. She'd never seen Skyquake cry before, and frankly, she had no idea what to do.

When she cried, he would give her a hug and try to comfort her. It usually helped. Maybe it was time she returned the favor.

Her mind made up, Terabyte clambered up onto the short brig table for the extra height, and awkwardly hugged the mech. The large fighter seemed to melt in her arms, the hug being exactly the reassurance needed.

As she hugged him, Terabyte felt herself relaxing as well. Though she hadn't realized it, the two-wheeler needed that hug just as much Skyquake. The last few quartex had done nothing but pile stress on both friends after a long and hard seven vorns.

After a few more seconds, the mech seemed to recover and took a step back. Glancing at her feet, Skyquake chuckled and gestured to the desk. "Interesting use of the table."

She smiled and jumped lightly off the table. Terabyte looked up at the mech: she stood to his midriff. "It served its purpose well."

He grinned slyly, adopting a mockingly thoughtful expression. "Hmm... Maybe you should ask the medic to weld one of those to your pedes."

She kicked his shin-plate lightly. "Your politeness is astounding, sir."

"Well," Skyquake said, shrugging modestly, "I do try to be the best pin cushion I can be."

Terabyte's optics narrowed as she playfully extended a tiny portion of her dagger. "If my pin cushion's not careful, he may win a few more pins to join the rest..."

He jumped back and gasped exuberantly, knee-plates held together, hands held up as a shield. His ruby optics were wide and his wings trembled comically. When he spoke, his voice was high and whiny, bearing a striking resemblance to Starscream. "Oh no! Please, great and mighty Lady Terabyte! Spare your humblest servant!"

Raising her hand, Terabyte pretended to examine her servos as she carefully considered his plea. She made a show of thinking about it for a good klick before waving her other hand dismissively. "I suppose I will allow you to live another orn in my glorious presence, Sir Skyquake."

Both of them dropped the charade and burst into laughter. Skyquake gave a round of applause as he roared with laughter. Terabyte was laughing so hard her vocalizer had glitched out and no sound could escape.

Once she'd regained herself a little bit, Terabyte grinned widely, a devious expression crossing her face. "Great and mighty Lady Terabyte, hmm? I like that... Maybe I should make you call me that all the time."

"Oh, but what would I do in battle and you were in trouble?" The jet asked 'innocently'. "By the time I was done yelling, 'Great and mighty Lady Terabyte, look out!' you'd have been slagged before I even got halfway through that mouthful."

She sighed in exaggerated disappointment. "I guess you have a point... it would have been nice though..."

"Next you'll be asking me to tend your every need as I bask in your 'glorious presence'." Skyquake drolled, rolling his ruby optics.

Terabyte laughed, nodding her pointed helm in eager agreement. "How could you have possibly guessed?"

"Oh, I never told you about my psychic powers?"

"Psycho powers, more like." Terabyte teased. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight..." Skyquake replied. Once he thought she was out of audio range, he whispered, "Great and mighty Lady Terabyte."

**A Groon Later**

The femme stared up at the roof as she lay on her berth, examining the dancing shadows cast by her golden bio-lights. It had been good to joke and tease with Skyquake again. They had both needed it.

But as soon as she'd left, her processors had drifted back to what he'd told her. For all those vorns, she'd been deceived into thinking she was on the right side of the war. She had never doubted the Decepticon cause... but now, Skyquake told her that her cause was exactly opposite to theirs.

Terabyte scowled.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She'd always passed it off as an inconvenient coincidence when she had a mission on the days Megatron addressed the people, but now she knew it was to keep her loyal. Which also explained her mentor's vague replies whenever she asked about the warlord's speeches.

Why hadn't she figured it out before now? Had she been so blinded by revenge for all those vorns that she just didn't accept the signs? Terabyte tried so hard to keep an open mind, yet she had ignored the Autobots' attempts to sway her with a passion.

She'd always blamed the Autobots for Cybertron going dark... If the Decepticons were always as evil as Megatron, then she had helped destroy Cybertron. And now she'd been sending sensitive intel to the Decepticons, to aid in the destruction of yet another world.

Terabyte would never forgive or forget what the Wreckers did to Protihex. She still couldn't believe that even that could have been a lie. No, she wouldn't forgive or forget Protihex, but she could put the past behind her.

To begin to redeem part of the things she'd done ignorantly in Megatron's name.

Perhaps the Autobots were telling the truth about Protihex as well. But until she had more proof to support their story, Terabyte would not simply take their word for it. Even if they had apparently been telling the truth in so many other things.

Beside her, Terabyte could hear the gentle thrum of Arcee's recharging engine. Occasionally the femme would growl in her sleep or whine mutedly.

The ex-'Con sighed deeply. She was afraid to stop sending reports to Soundwave. As soon as she did, the silent commander would know that she'd betrayed them. That would put her very close to the top of Megatron's priority hit list. Which pretty much ensured that she would die. Painfully.

The Decepticon records had several occasions in which the warlord had actually deemed a traitor to be worth more than even the Prime. Traitors were often exchanged for Autobot hostages and then tortured and publicly executed as an example.

When Lieutenant Prowl had joined the Autobots, Megatron had practically put the War on hold in his attempts to offline the tactician. She had met Prowl once before he defected. It had been her first day in communications and intel, Terabyte had accidentally gone to the tactical division. The mech's red optics were so coldly calculating, his voice and demeanor completely void of feeling. It was as if his emotional cortex had been deleted.

That was probably why he had been such an excellent tactician.

Terabyte checked her internal chronometer. 0047. The Prime might still be in his office. She needed to speak to him. She had been tricked into staying on the wrong side of the war for far too long. The spy fingered the rounded insignia on her belt-plate. She couldn't believe it had already been almost two quartex, three and a half Earth months, since she'd been marked as an Autobot.

Thanks to Megatron, Makeshift, and the rest of the higher ups, she'd had no intentions of ever keeping it. Her past with the Autobots didn't exactly go in their favor either, but if the Decepticons were all like Megatron... Terabyte would rather join the destroyers of her family than stay with the Decepticons.

She felt that she ought to tell Optimus. Some part of her just didn't think it was enough to switch loyalties now, without telling anyone that she'd been a spy. At the same time though, Terabyte didn't want to tell everyone and lose the friendships and trusts that she'd begun to build - albeit through unsteady intent.

The Prussian blue and black femme stood up and silently left the berth room, swiftly making her way towards the Prime's office.

However, the closer she got, the less confidence she had. When she finally reached the door to his office, the little femme had managed to think of absolutely everything that could possibly go wrong. She must have a death wish, coming to tell Optimus Prime that she'd spent her four quartex on the base lying through her denta and sending sensitive data about everyone on his team to the enemy.

Not to mention the fact that as the leader of the Autobots, Prime would throw her in the brig for eternity after telling his team and pounding her to scrap. And Skyquake had just joined the Autobots for her, not knowing that she hadn't really joined them, and-

\- the Prime was standing right in front of her.

"Is something amiss, Terabyte?"

Losing the tiny scraps of confidence she had left, the two-wheeler shook her helm quickly, averting her gaze. Left finial twitching backwards, she muttered, "No, sir. Just couldn't recharge."

His voice seemed to be smiling knowingly, "Terabyte, what is troubling you?"

_The sticky black stuff from Carrier's box was all over her chubby little hands and faceplates. It simply wouldn't come off and she was still too little to reach the sink without help. Maybe Mama wouldn't notice?_

_The little yellow and blue youngling rubbed her hands on the table leg nearby, hoping it would scrape off. Nope. Now it was smeared further up her arm and on the table. What was this stuff anyway?_

_"Terabyte! Come downstairs, it's time for dinner!" Tetrastar called from the kitchen._

_She looked at her hands, trying to decide what to do. She hadn't meant to drop the box... She'd even tried to make it stop. That was why it was all over her. Her belly rumbled hungrily and she finally just settled for putting her hands behind her back._

_Running to the kitchen she smiled up at Mama, deciding to act like nothing was wrong. Mama looked down at her, optics gentle. "Is something wrong, Terabyte?"_

_The youngling shook her little helm, her carrier's black artist's paint smudged on her chubby face. Left finial - a new addition to her frame - twitching, she answered, "No, Mama."_

_Tetrastar smiled, her voice firm. "Sweet spark, you have paint all over you. Now tell me the truth, is something wrong?"_

_Coolant spilled from her wide optics. "I wanted t' paint... like Mama. But it f-fell a-an' I twied to stop it..."_

The memory cut off part way, the Prime's tone reminding her so much of her carrier. Tetrastar always knew when she was hiding something, even when it wasn't nearly so obvious as that time. Optimus's voice... He knew she'd come to talk to him, and while he wasn't going to force her to tell him, he was making sure she knew he wasn't fooled.

She glanced both ways warily, not wanting their conversation to be overheard.

Optimus noted her glance and gestured behind him pointedly, opening the office door. "In my office?"

Terabyte nodded gratefully, following the mech into his office, sitting down across the table from him. Crossing one pede over the other, the femme stared down at her hands, trying to think of the best way to approach this.

"I..." She started slowly, trailing off and starting over. "I wish to- I haven't been-" The words just didn't want to come out tactfully. Scowling slightly, the femme tried again, referring to herself in the third person, as if she were simply reading a report, "Lieutenant Terabyte, second in command to Soundwave has to this date sent her observations, intel, and data regarding the Autobots to Commander Soundwave regularly every quartex."

She looked up at Optimus, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn't seem even slightly surprised, yet disappointed at the same time, like he'd suspected she was a spy, but had hoped she'd prove his suspicions wrong. The Prime remained silent, merely gesturing for her to continue.

"Said lieutenant has, as of gaining the title of 'Autobot', doubted her assumption that Autobot kind consists of murdering liars, acting good only to gain her trust. Lieutenant Terabyte ignored those doubts, but consequently did not inform her superiors of the Autobot base's location."

Terabyte again glanced at the Prime. Slight relief gleamed in his cobalt optics, but he still said nothing. The silence was becoming somewhat disturbing. She couldn't tell what he was thinking by his carefully shielded expression.

She continued a little slower, bothered by the mech's utter lack of response. "After being taken over by Megatron, Lieutenant Terabyte concluded that the Decepticons' standards had fallen without her noticing. The cause she thought they followed had been abandoned. However, her opinion on the Autobots remained uncertain. If they were, as the lieutenant had believed, deceiving her with their kindness, they had continued to do so for an unreasonable length of time."

Still no visible response from the Prime. The femme began to wonder if he'd fallen into recharge.

A little more disturbed, she slipped back into first person. "I didn't trust either faction, but didn't want to go rogue either. So I decided to wait. Skyquake told me today that all the time I'd fought for the Decepticons, they had orders to keep me from learning what they really fought for. The Decepticons had never changed their cause... I just never knew what it really was."

"I've spent my whole life fighting and killing for a lie. A tidy little fairy tale that Megatron built around me to keep me loyal." She spat angrily, angry with herself for believing it so long. "It's time I fought for what I thought the Decepticons believed in. Justice, peace... family."

Still Optimus didn't move or speak. The scarlet and blue truck just sat there, watching her with his spark piercing optics. His servos were pressed together in a bridge, his face unreadable as he seemed to peer into her very core.

Finally he spoke quietly, curiously. "Why have you told me this?"

Jaw dropping behind her mask, Terabyte stared at the Prime in shock. For several astroseconds she just sat stunned as her processors attempted to process his question. She'd just told him everything... and all he had to say was 'why'?

"Sir?" The femme asked slowly.

"Why tell me?" Optimus repeated. "You've already been accepted among us, why did you not just play it safe and pretend your intents were honest all along? Why tell me?"

"I- I don't know, sir." She answered finally. She hadn't considered that. She just felt like she should. "It just felt... right. Sir."

"So what will you do now?" The Prime questioned, his tone and expression radiating silent approval of her answer.

Her golden optics blinked. "I suppose the others will be informed of my treachery and I will be - willingly - escorted to the brig, where I will return to prisoner status and await my punishment."

A tiny, almost unnoticeable smile touched the Prime's lip-plates. "Is that what you want, Terabyte?"

She gave him a strange look, shaking her helm slightly as she tentatively replied, "Negative?"

The smile grew a little more. "In my position, how would you deal with this situation?"

Terabyte frowned, thoroughly baffled by the Prime's questions. "I... would... inform my subordinates of the aforementioned lieutenant's betrayal and..." The femme sighed deeply, knowing exactly what she would do. "I would send the lieutenant to the brig, where she would be disarmed and held on half rations. If I ever deemed her ready to join my team, I would most lik- I would never completely trust her again."

Optimus nodded solemnly, pressing his servos together as he thought. For several klicks, mech and femme sat in silence. Terabyte resisted the urge to tap her servos against the tabletop as her anxiety built up. Instead, she rubbed one servo against the other until both were dull and scratched.

"Thank you for your honesty, Terabyte." The Prime said finally, after nearly a breem of silence. "I have carefully considered your advice, and deemed it wise..."

Her spark pulse doubled and her vents stopped as she thought about the fate she'd just sentenced herself to. Maybe she should have been more lenient...

"But merciless." Optimus concluded, no doubt noticing the two-wheeler's audible sigh of resignation. "I think it would be better for us to put the past behind us and strive to live up to the standard you have worn for two quartex."

The femme stared. "S-sir?"

"If asked, I will not lie to my team - nor should you - but for the time being, I do not believe any good would come of telling the others." Optimus explained firmly, making sure she understood his reasoning.

The ex-'Con nodded her acknowledgement before addressing the next issue. "Prime, sir, how shall I proceed; regarding the mission reports Soundwave will be expecting of me?"

The mech frowned minutely before replying as if it couldn't be more obvious, "As a true defector, you no longer owe anything to the Decepticons. The reports should cease."

"With all due respect sir..." Terabyte looked down at her pedes, whispering reluctantly, "I'm scared."

As she continued to stare at her pedes, the little two-wheeler didn't see Optimus stand up and walk over towards her. Laying one large, comforting hand on her shoulder, he spoke gently.

"Terabyte," She looked up to gaze into those wise, blue optics. "You are one of us... We will protect you."

Terabyte nodded once, then nodded again with more confidence. No turning back now. She had begun a new mission, a mission of redemption rather than vengeance. And now, there was no turning back.


	27. Snare

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 27**

**Snare**

_Terabyte,_

_Special mission from Lord Megatron. Meet me at Kaon Ridge in half a groon for briefing and deployment._

_Skyquake._

_The dark armored femme smiled at her friend's messy glyphs on the datapad he'd left on her desk. She wasn't really sure why Skyquake had informed her rather than just getting the usual cryptic memo from the assignment office._

_The two-wheeler shrugged and checked her subspace, making sure she had her first aid kit, report chips, surveillance camera buttons, tiny tracking device, spare tracking device... She stopped by the storage room and picked up emergency Energon rations for herself and Skyquake, knowing that he would have forgotten to restock his subspace._

_As she approached the main exit, the masked spy nodded her helm in greeting to the Vehicon femme on guard._

_"Heya, Spec'!" The femme called cheerily. "'Nother mission?"_

_"Hello, Velocity." She returned formally. It had always been her personal goal to make a light acquaintance with the Vehicons and she probably knew far more of them than any other non-Vehicon. While they hadn't yet earned a name for themselves, the spy always made note of the designation they wanted to earn. "Yes, new mission. Going to the briefing now."_

_"Cool..." The purple grounder grinned. "Better'n guard duty. Try an' come back in one piece, yeah? You're the only friendly face us no-names see 'round 'ere."_

_"I will certainly make the effort." She replied, making her exit._

_Transforming, the two-wheeler sped across the flat, black metal ground towards the Kaon Ridge. It only took her about a breem to scale the jagged cliff side. Dusting off her hands, the femme paused a moment to look out over the Ridge. Admiring the view overlooking the capital, she checked her chronometer. Right on time._

_The city spires sparkled, though the scars of war marred the outskirts especially. The citadel had a large crater in the side from Zeta Prime's 'Vamparc Titans'; the building had never been completely repaired, instead the walls had been rebuilt following the shape of the crater. A constant reminder of the Autobots' tyranny._

_"Beautiful, is it not?"_

_She looked over to see a blue and gold jet beside her, gazing out over the Ridge. To her right stood Skyquake._

_"Dreadwing." The femme greeted stiffly. "I assume that you have come to see Skyquake before we leave? It is nearly time for the briefing; you ought to return to your post now."_

_The jet scowled at her... or was that just his default expression? "I was about to ask the same of you, Specialist."_

_He snarled her rank, reminding her of her position. Her mask still up, the young femme made a face at the mech. Too bad he couldn't see it. "Skyquake summoned me for a special mission. __**Sir.**__"_

_"You must be mistaken. I am here for the special mission." Dreadwing growled firmly._

_Beside them, Skyquake was being unusually quiet as he not-so-discreetly watched them._

_Glancing over at her friend, the spy's golden optics narrowed, annoyed suspicion creeping into her voice. "Sky..."_

_With an equally annoyed tone, Dreadwing growled, "'Quake."_

_Coming to the same conclusion simultaneously, spy and fighter turned to glare at Skyquake, speaking in unison. "You set us up."_

_The green jet averted his gaze guiltily, fiddling with the trigger on his gun. His ruby optics were dimmed, signifying mental conversation. "Maybe."_

_"It won't work." She said stubbornly, mask up - both physically and in character. "I appreciate what you are trying to do, but it will not work."_

_After a few klicks of stewing in silence, she and Dreadwing both spoke again, "What is the mission and how long will it take?"_

_Skyquake sent a brief data burst detailing the nature of the mission. It would take at least three orns: nearly a quartex. They were to perform a full sweep for unusual Autobot activity in..._

_"Sector Zero Six..." The femme whispered, faceplates resembling one who'd just seen the dead rise up. "But... that's Protihex..."_

"Sure thing, Boss Bot!" Cliffjumper said cheerily, laughing at his own pun, "I'll make sure the mech's... well-grounded."

"Thank you, Cliffjumper." Optimus said in his usual uptight commander voice. "I am sure Skyquake will appreciate your willingness to share your quarters."

He winked before turning around to leave. "My home will be his home."

The red, horned warrior stepped outside and glanced both ways before heading towards the bridge room. He wiped the grin off his face, instantly replacing it with a scowl. "Slag."

Now he'd be stuck with the mech who killed Prowl. In his quarters. Not to mention that his quarters weren't nearly large enough to comfortably hold himself and a fighter class jet. He'd mentioned larger accommodations to Prime, but his request had been politely ignored.

Prime had called him to his office that morning to 'ask' if he was willing to 'share' his quarters with the mech. As if he could say no to Optimus. A request from Prime was not really optional. Not that he'd be exactly sharing with the jet. Cliffjumper growled angrily. He might as well just give his quarters away. Kiss privacy goodbye.

Letting out a huge sigh as he stomped through the empty corridors, the warrior repeated his previous assessment of the new situation. "Slag."

He would have been fine with Terabyte. There was a nice little alcove in his room, large enough to comfortably provide the two-wheeler with ample space and privacy. And he liked the little femme. She was like having a little sister.

But he wouldn't be able to cram the jet into the alcove. Instead, he would have to give the jet his berth and cram himself into the little alcove. That would be just... lovely.

Cliffjumper put on a wide grin as he waltzed into the bridge room. Terabyte was in her usual spot on the stairs, gazing blankly at the wall in front of her. His lip-plates slid into an honest smile. He wished she wouldn't stay so isolated.

He spun on his heels and headed towards her, sitting down beside her on the steps. "What's up, Short Stuff?"

She looked over at him with wary optics, answering guardedly, "I was merely thinking."

"About?" The red mech asked curiously.

"Smokey." Terabyte replied, her gold optics unreadable, though her voice was wistful.

He cocked an optic ridge in question, "Close friend?"

The femme shook her helm. "Family." He didn't think she was going to be much more forth coming than that, but after a short while she continued sadly, "I promised I'd find him. That was about twelve vorns ago. I failed him."

Cliffjumper didn't answer for a while. He wasn't sure what a mech could say to comfort that feeling of failure. He'd felt it himself enough to know that nothing would really help, but at the same time the attempts of comfort were appreciated.

"Hey... don't give up on him yet okay? Who knows? He may be on his way here as we speak." He said finally, settling for an upbeat optimism.

"Maybe." Terabyte sighed, clearly not considering it as a possibility. "Weren't you supposed to be on patrol with Arcee five minutes ago?"

Accepting her almost-subtle request to shut up and go away, Cliffjumper groaned in mock dismay, standing up. "Ooh... she's gonna kill me for being late... again..."

Terabyte shook her helm fondly at the horned mech as he ran out the exit, already rapidly muttering various versions of an apology. She stood up, physically dusting off her hands, mentally dusting off her troubled thoughts.

The small femme sighed lightly, glancing around the room. The kids were in school still, but the tv was on, a game called 'Zelda' on the screen. Bumblebee was playing, trying to kill a 'Ganondorf'. From what she knew, he was the end game boss.

She watched for a few minutes, until the little human in green died. The yellow scout growled and slammed his remote on the sofa, grumbling and beeping angrily about the game being glitchy and programmed by the inhabitants of a 'zoo'.

Over by the scanner terminals, Ratchet was telling Bulkhead, "-cting a substantial Energon signal in... the Kamchatka Peninsula: Russia."

The green mech nodded, pulling an Energon scanner from his subspace. "An' you want me to check it out, right?"

"Yes." The medic nodded. "Go, find out if the signal is real, and whether the Energon is accessible to us with our very limited resources."

Terabyte ground her denta frustratedly. She didn't really want to go chasing Energon signals that were probably traps with _Bulkhead_ of all mechs, but she needed something to keep her thoughts distracted. She had far too much to think about, none of it incredibly cheerful. Her mind needed a diversion.

The now-Autobot femme stepped towards the ex-Wrecker, her helm bowed respectfully in acknowledgement of her negligible rank as an Autobot. She was just a common soldier as far as rank was concerned. Everyone was above her.

"Sir. I would like to request your permission to accompany you on this mission, sir." She stated.

Bulkhead frowned, clearly not understanding why she'd want to go on such a routine mission. "Uh... why? I mean... it's just a stray En reading."

"Yes sir." Terabyte agreed, her voice neutral. "I am aware of the nature of the mission, sir."

He blinked, cocking one optic ridge incredulously before shrugging. "Sure... could you drop all the 'sir'-ing though?"

Nodding smartly, she replied, "Yes s- Bulkhead."

Turning to the medic he gave a thumbs up. "'Kay Ratch', we'll be back."

The two Autobots walked warily through the deserted ghost town on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. They hadn't heard a sound other than the crunch of rubble of decaying buildings under-pede. The brown twilight air was dusty and forlorn. The buildings towered overhead, looming above them like a jeering crowd.

Terabyte scowled, hearing what sounded vaguely like tiny insect pedes, scrabbling on the concrete. She shuddered at the subconscious reminder of Scraplets. Almost at the same time that she heard it, Bulkhead decided to try to start a conversation.

"So, uh, Terabyte. You know, you don't need to be so... uh, stiff." He said awkwardly.

She hissed, holding up one servo to try and silence him. The spy crouched down, long black finials shifting to catch as much sound as possible. "Shhh!"

The green Wrecker seemed to misunderstand her meaning and started stumbling over his words, obviously feeling like he just stuck his pede in his mouth. "Oh! I mean, I don't think you're stiff... just really formal, and you don't have to be so... er, formal. 'Cause you're-"

"Hey, be quiet for a second." Terabyte growled impatiently, the slightest bit of an echo reaching her sensitive finials. He was silent for just about a second before the mech spoke again.

"What's wrong?" Bulkhead looked around a corner, trying to make sure they weren't about to be ambushed. "Didn't mean to-"

"Quiet!" She exclaimed finally, her patience very much suffering from her frustration over her own naivety regarding everything she thought she knew. Regretting yelling at the mech, Terabyte politely explained, "I hear something..."

Listening a little harder in the dead stillness, the two-wheeler corrected herself. "Someone." Rising, she pointed back the way they'd come. "We are being followed, but whoever it is is not appearing on my scanners. Shall I investigate while you continue following the signal, sir?"

Bulkhead frowned at her, though whether at her returned formality or in suspicion Terabyte couldn't tell. Finally the olive Wrecker nodded his approval. "Just come back to my coordinates in about an hour."

She nodded, silently slipping back into the fog from which they'd come. Mini-cannon at the ready, battle blade charged just in case, Terabyte ran a continual scan of her surroundings. Thus the femme continued for nearly half an hour.

Again she heard the scampering scraping sound, this time accompanied by an insectoid silhouette running through the haze ahead.

A Cybertronian-sized spider? So far as she knew, this particular organic planet had only tiny arachnids. So what... was that?

Overcome by an irresistible instinct, Terabyte threw herself down, narrowly missing a large, sticky, gray wad of... stuff. She didn't take the time to investigate the unidentified substance, instead firing several warning shots in the direction of the projectile's origin.

When nothing happened for several astroseconds, an awful feeling sunk into her tanks as she slowly turned around, sincerely hoping she was wrong. No, unfortunately her perimeter sensors never lied.

Directly behind her stood a charcoal and purple spider femme with gold accents, pointing a blaster at her helm. Her build was disturbingly similar to Arcee's. Right before the femme transformed into bipedal mode, Terabyte saw that the femme's pedes folded into the shape of an arachnid's abdomen.

"I don't believe we've met." The other femme said, looking Terabyte over judgmentally, trailing off for the spy to provide a designation. "You would be...?"

Terabyte watched the spider cautiously. "Lieute- Terabyte."

She'd almost forgotten that defecting had wiped her rank. The spider femme noticed her hesitation with a wry smile, almost purring. "Ah... so you're one of the traitors. Lord Megatron really ought to do something about his management. He just can't keep his femmes loyal."

The charcoal and purple femme continued as if she were imparting the most important advice in the galaxy. Her tone was almost sickly sweet. "For that matter, Optimus Prime isn't much better... Mechs are all the same, you see, they simply can't be trusted in places of power. They just lack the... _processor_ power, wouldn't you agree? Now if _I_ were in charge, this pesky little skirmish would be quickly settled."

The spy cocked an optic ridge skeptically, brandishing her weapons. "I do not particularly think so. Who are you?"

The unnamed femme's faceplates dropped the facade of friendliness and now held a cold, distasteful smirk. Apparently that was not the answer she'd wanted. "Oh, no one of importance." She transformed back into the insectoid, sub-spacing the blaster and revealing two blades of her own. "Just a harmless little spider."

With a cackling laugh the spider lunged backwards, shooting more of the sticky substance at Terabyte from her spider-like abdomen, missing twice before catching the spy's cannon arm. She looked down at the stuff now pinning her arm to the cement wall. Organic spider's silk. Disgusting.

Her Energon dagger easily sliced through the material, freeing her arm... Just in time for the spidery femme to cover her in multiple layers of webbing, completely trapping her against the wall. Fighting furiously to maneuver her blade to cut herself free, Terabyte glared at the approaching femme, hiding her slight worry from her golden optics.

The web wasn't breaking fast enough or as easily this time. She couldn't risk using her cannon. The chances of her severely injuring herself by doing so were very high. Maybe as a last resort.

"Pathetic." The purple and charcoal spider spat. "You're quite useless, Gigabyte-"

"It's _Tera_byte." She interrupted in annoyance.

The spider waved a hand dismissively, hardly acknowledging her. "-My collection already has a Protihexian. I thought I could at least get some fun out of you..."

Terabyte snarled, hoping to stall her long enough for her to get through the last few layers. "Sorry to disappoint."

"I suppose I'll just have to dispose of you then." The strange femme said, not sounding nearly so disappointed as her words suggested. She licked her servo slowly, watching how the spy would react, grinning maliciously.

Reaching forward suddenly, the spider dug her sharp, claw-like servos into Terabyte's mask. The spy bit her glossa to hold back a gasp as the servos were dragged through the mask with a loud metallic screech.

"Although I think I'll just find out what horrors could possibly be hidden under this mask first, sweetie." The femme hissed in her sickeningly fake kindness as she shook the metal shavings from Terabyte's mask off her servos.

"Not. Today. Bug." She ground out as she severed the last of the strands binding her.

With a roar, Terabyte leapt at the spider, slicing two of the skinny legs off, shaking her opponent's balance enough to knock her down. Pressing her mini-cannon into the spider's chassis, the memories of her time under Megatron's control appeared fresh in her mind.

She hesitated.

And that was all the spider needed.

"The Autobots have already made you soft, spy." Laughing cruelly, the now-six-legged femme transformed into her bipedal mode and roughly kicked Terabyte's pedes out of under her.

Landing hard on her aft, Terabyte watched frustratedly as the spider crawled up the walls of the nearest multi-story building, leaping from roof to roof, leaving her helpless to effectively pursue.

Standing up, she made a brief, futile attempt to brush the sticky web from her chassis. Terabyte checked her chronometer, growling lightly as she found that by the time she reached Bulkhead's coordinates she'd be nearly forty-five minutes later than Bulkhead had ordered.

She really hoped he got distracted and lost track of the time.

_/Bulkhead, sir. This is Lieu- Terabyte. I located and was engaged by our pursuer and will thus be delayed./ _Terabyte commed finally, leaping over a fallen pillar in her path.

The smog hovered around her, making her ventilation system work double time to keep her internals clean of it. The full moon shone brightly above her, seeming to laugh at her.

_Made you soft. _The spider's voice sneered at her.

_You were always too soft... you never could make the hard decisions... _Makeshift's voice echoed in her mind condescendingly, reminding her painfully of her mentor's harsh breaking of the bond. Only it didn't seem so sudden or out of character any more... Not after what Sky had said. _Protihex will never be properly avenged, because you're too soft to do what's necessary._

Nonetheless his words still stung, even three quartex later.

_I don't think you ever really learned what it means to be a Decepticon. _Makeshift had snarled shortly before cutting the link. _...I won't be responsible for a weakling._

Involuntarily, she whimpered at the renewed pain in her spark. In spite of all that he'd done, Terabyte had loved Makeshift. The gruff, large Shifter had grown to be like a second father to her. The sire the Wreckers had stolen from her.

His last pleading words rolled into her mind. _Terabyte... you can't let them-_

She had cut him off bitterly. The last thing she ever told him was, _I won't be responsible for a weakling... war is full of collateral damage._

He had been right. She never knew what it was to be a Decepticon. Was he right about the other things too? Was she too soft? She had let the spider get away. She had hesitated.

Terabyte sighed as she trudged along. The hard lines between mercy and weakness were now blurred. She couldn't tell the difference any more. Was mercy weak? Or was weakness merciful?

Shaking her dark helm, Terabyte tried to contact Bulkhead again. _/Sir? ETA estimated to be five minutes. Are you in need of assistance?/_

No response came.

The two-wheeler scowled and quickened her pace. Either he was just ignoring her, or the mech was in trouble. She suspected the former, but couldn't disregard the possibility of the latter.

Arriving at his last known coordinates, Terabyte found a considerably larger amount of rubble, along with one fewer walls. Charging her weapons, the spy scanned the area for spark signals. One. Autobot.

She made her way towards the signal warily, ready should it prove to be a trap. As soon as she saw the source of the signal, the femme knew there was no trap. Running towards the green frame lying prone in the deserted plaza, Terabyte pulled out her emergency med-kit from subspace, grimly noting the signs of a fight.

Terabyte smirked when she saw him. Bulkhead was dented and knocked around, but the actual physical damage was minimal. He had passed out. Granted, there were several rather large dents and he would be sore for a few days.

The spy shook the mech gently, not wanting to exacerbate the bruises, but not wanting to startle him by being in the middle of repairs when he came to. He didn't respond. She tried again, a little harder this time, to no avail.

_/Marco!/ _Miko called cheerily through an open radio frequency that the humans used since they lacked internal comm systems. Terabyte frowned lightly, not understanding what some man named Marco had to do with anything. She figured the call was for Bulkhead, so she shook him again with vigor. _/Marco!/_

Bulkhead's optic shutters fluttered, but the mech didn't wake. Impatiently, Miko roared, _/MARCO!/_

With a start, the Wrecker bolted upright, groaning as his helm no doubt pounded furiously in protest. "Miko?"

_/Nnerrr!/ _The girl replied, imitating the sound of a buzzer. Matter of factly, she said, _/You're supposed to say, 'Polo'./_

The green mech glanced at her questioningly. "Terabyte?"

The spy grinned at Miko's groan. The human girl spoke slowly and deliberately, _/You okay Bulk? Y'seem to be getting rather confused over this. It's not hard, really, just say 'Po-Lo' ./_

Terabyte decided to intervene so that Bulkhead could take a minute to gather his senses. "Miko, Bulkhead has just regained consciousness. Allow him to pull himself together and remember what happened."

_/Whoa. Who managed to get the upper on Bulk?/ _The girl sounded honestly shocked, as if it were incomprehensible that her guardian could be beat.

"Not sure..." Terabyte trailed off, looking at Bulkhead curiously. "I was not present."

_/Where were you?/ _Miko questioned in accusing suspicion.

"About half an hour away," the spy continued before Miko could interrupt, "investigating the possibility of enemy pursuers. On Bulkhead's orders. He can confirm this."

Said mech stood up stiffly with a grunt. "Tell Ratchet to bridge us back, Miko."

Within a few breems, the two Autobots were back at base getting their post-mission checkups from Ratchet. On one side of the med-bay, Bulkhead was getting interrogated. On the other side, Cliffjumper was checking her over again, in spite of the medic's satisfied assessment. Her mask still had claw marks run through it, but those could be welded and buffed out later.

"I'm fine!" Terabyte exclaimed in exasperation. "The medic already checked me."

Finally the red mech seemed to conclude that she really was okay. "Who'd you run into, anyway?"

"She never said her name. And I've never seen her before." The femme explained. "Her armor was charcoal, purple, and gold... Her alt-mode was... like a spider."

"Airachnid." Cliffjumper spat angrily. "She's a merciless killer, collects the heads of different species for fun. She's mostly why 'Cee's so locked down. Killed her first partner right before her optics."

Terabyte looked down thoughtfully. That must be why the other two-wheeler so despised Decepticons. The spy whispered guiltily, "I let her get away."

She continued quietly, her earlier thoughts returning in full strength. "Do you think I am weak?"

He cocked his red helm, considering her question. "Tera..."

She didn't bother to snap at him over the name. Maybe it was just because she was so emotionally exhausted. Maybe it was because she was subconsciously beginning to trust him.

"You're one of the strongest people I know... probably too strong for your own good a lot of times. You always stand firm to what you believe in... even when it's not exactly...uhh..."

"Right?" She suggested helpfully, smiling sadly under her mask.

He grinned for a moment, but she could see right through it. Frowning worriedly, Terabyte saw a glint of hurt in his optics. As if he _knew_. And she could tell from the mech's expression that he knew she knew he knew.

"Was I the only one who thought I'd fooled you?" She asked finally after he said nothing. The rest of Team Prime was focused on Bulkhead. They appeared to be getting ready to leave the base.

Cliffjumper smiled at her tone and expression, shaking his helm. "I knew it all along, TB. Even from that first day on the Nemesis. The others don't know. I've worked with Con prisoners long enough to see through that ruse. I knew all along."

"Why didn't you tell them?" She snorted. "For that matter, why did you even let me come with you?"

Now the red warrior grinned widely. "I haven't got the faintest idea. Had a hunch."

Her voice was dry with disbelief. "You risked the lives of your whole team and the Prime himself... On a hunch."

"Yup!"

The mech wasn't even slightly perturbed by this. In fact, he seemed rather smug about it. "Why?"

Cliffjumper shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, I dunno. I like you. I always wanted a little sis'."

Terabyte stared at the mech, processing what he just said. That would explain his protectiveness of her. He viewed her as family.

She was trying to formulate a response when Arcee walked over with a hand on her hip. "Did you hear any of that?"

Both of them glanced at each other. Terabyte shook her helm slowly, whereas Cliffjumper winked at her reassuringly. "Breakdown got the drop on Bulky and then MECH kidnapped him. Now we're gonna go save his sorry aft?"

The spy cocked an optic ridge, surprised that he'd been listening to both conversations. Arcee sounded equally amazed. "Actually... yeah."

The pink and blue two-wheeler continued. "Optimus wants to mount a rescue op. You both better get ready to roll out."

Terabyte nodded deferentially. "I am ready to go as soon as ordered, sir."

Arcee's optics narrowed and a tiny smirk touched her faceplates. "Wait to be deployed in the bridge room."

She could tell that Arcee was testing her, pushing her patience just to see when she'd snap. Terabyte smirked back. She could play that game all orn. "As you command, sir."

Bowing politely, with just enough of an added flare to annoy the other two-wheeler, Terabyte turned and made her exit. Catching sight of the Prime speaking with Ratchet, she headed that direction to report her skirmish with 'Airachnid'.

Across the room, Bulkhead was leaning sulkily against the wall with his arms crossed. Miko seemed to be trying to convince him of something. He didn't appear to be considering her advice.

"Ratchet, I suggest you bring a more substantial med-kit than the standard. With Breakdown in MECH's hands, I fear he will need it." Prime said grimly.

When Ratchet simply nodded and returned to the med-bay to gather his supplies, Terabyte stepped forward and stood with her hands behind her back, feet apart. "Optimus Prime sir..."

"Yes, Terabyte?" He asked in his deep, rich voice.

"I thought you would appreciate a report on my actions in the recent mission sir." She said crisply.

Optimus inclined his helm slightly. "I admit I was curious as to why you were absent when Bulkhead was attacked. I am sure you had valid reason?"

"Yes sir." The spy continued, still standing stiffly to attention. "I was given reason to suspect that we were being followed. With Bulkhead's permission, I set out to investigate and was ambushed by a rogue Decepticon femme."

"Airachnid?"

Terabyte nodded. "Yes sir. Engaging the enemy, I allowed myself to lower my guard for a moment..." She averted her gaze. "She got away. When I reached Bulkhead's coordinates, MECH was already gone."

The Prime hummed, nodding slightly. "I see. Do you think the two incidents could have been linked?"

Reanalyzing what data she had on the two attacks, the Prussian blue and black femme shook her helm. "No sir. I believe that our three parties merely converged for the sole purpose of obtaining the Energon we detected. Requesting permission to complete our initial mission, sir. I have reason to believe that the signal Ratchet found on the Kamchatka Peninsula was in fact genuine."

Optimus frowned, his optics going dim as he commed someone on a private channel. Moments later he looked up, "Bulkhead agrees that the signal is most likely genuine. My only condition is that you take backup. For this mission, I would suggest Bumblebee join you."

"Sir, permission to complete the mission-" Terabyte started, only to be interrupted because at that moment both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper entered the room.

The yellow Praxian cocked one large black optic ridge, whirring curiously. **"Suggest I join who for what?"**

"-alone..." She finished in a low mutter. Already she knew that that request would now have no hope of being granted.

Cliffjumper ran up, flashing her a cheeky grin. "I can keep our new little bot safe."

The larger scarlet and blue mech shook his helm firmly, his tone clearly leaving no room for argument. "No Cliffjumper. You will take Skyquake on a routine patrol of the state of Washington. You will be teaching the mech about the Autobot way and how to best follow the humans laws, understood?"

The red mech's engine growled low for a split second before he whined, "Optimus! Can't some-"

A single reproving look from the Prime in his general direction made the red mech swallow the other part of his complaint.

Terabyte, not catching the Prime's look, asked, "Sir, mining the Energon we find will be a much easier and more effective task with added assistance from Skyquake and Cliffjumper. Bumblebee and myself are not built for such an undertaking… their larger frames will be much better suited for it, and a larger team would not be inadvisable. Sir."

"You have presented a fair argument Terabyte. Cliffjumper and Skyquake may accompany you and Bumblebee." Optimus conceded. "You are right. We have had enough ambushes this day. Bumblebee, you will be in charge."

**"Yes sir!"** Bumblebee buzzed, turning smartly on his heel and skating on his tires towards the cargo bay, not at all put out by his exclusion from the rescue operation.

Cliffjumper nodded to her gratefully and followed after the scout happily, glad to have avoided such a boring task as patrolling Washington. The endlessly cold, wet, and dreary state. One of the most _organic_ places on the planet.

Terabyte sighed, transforming into her vehicle mode to catch up with the scout and warrior. She kind of hoped they'd get ambushed again. She despised Energon mining. Especially since the Autobots had such limited resources. And she thought this day couldn't get any worse.


	28. Journey

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 28**

**Journey**

_**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**_

_**"Sector Zero Six..." The femme whispered, faceplates resembling one who'd just seen the dead rise up. "But... that's Protihex..."**_

_The rotation had passed in a tense silence between the three Decepticons. The small femme drove over the familiar plains of Sector Zero Six in a trance, memories of her long journey from the rubble of her home to Kaon filling her thoughts. _

_Those orns had been long, the youngling forced to travel on pede as she was still too young for an alt-mode. Many rotations she had been certain that she would die of lack of Energon, yet her fury and her rage gave her strength. _

_She often stopped in some kind mech's home for a night cycle or two, but she never stayed. She wouldn't even stay long enough to get the damage from the explosions repaired. Most would try to convince her to leave her vengeance behind, but her resolve was steadfast. She would make the Autobots pay for what they'd done, even if it cost her her life._

_Halfway to Kaon, she had stumbled upon a small destroyed town in Uraya, where she stumbled through the rubble. Stepping on to another pile of charred debris, just like all the others in appearance, she screamed as it crumbled beneath her weight, sending her crashing down into the labyrinth below. Dazed and badly injured, the youngling had limped through the sprawling tunnels. Finally stumbling the main chamber, the yellow and blue youngling met an elderly mech by the name of Alpha Trion._

_All around the lab, sheets of metal and spare armor and parts were scattered haphazardly on shelves, tables, and even the floor._

_By this time, the child was quite a sight to see. Scorched, scratched, and dented all over, now limping, with one arm that obviously had not been usable for many an orn. The femmeling's golden optics were cold, betraying far too much sorrow, pain, and anger than her few vorns ought to have held._

_"Child!" The purple and scarlet old mech had exclaimed, instantly sitting her down. "You look like you've been to the pit and back! What happened to you, young one?"_

_She had glared at him, faceplates tight as she ignored his question, demanding, "Can you upgrade me to an adult frame?"_

_"W-well, yes..." The mech sputtered, running a few scans over her, "but, child! You've hardly worn your current frame for a few quartex at most!"_

_"Oh, really?" She asked, batting her optics in mock innocence. Her voice turned bitter, "I hadn't realized. Will you do it or not?"_

_Alpha Trion shook his helm firmly, waving one servo at her sternly. "Now see here, young lady. I will not be responsible for robbing you of your childhood!"_

_She threw back her helm and laughed an empty, almost hysterical laugh. "Oh don't worry old mech, the Autobots beat you to it."_

_Leaping off the berth to land shakily and rather painfully on her pedes, the femmeling turned to limp back the way she came. "Well, thanks for your __**wonderful**__ hospitality, Mister Trion. I'll be on my way."_

_As she'd expected, the old mech ran after her, shouting, "Wait! Child, wait!" When she turned around with a vaguely curious expression, he continued, "I will build you an adult frame."_

_"Oh?" She had asked innocently, "And how long will it take?"_

_"An orn at least." Alpha Trion replied, "In the mean time I will repair the most pressing of your injuries. And in return, you will tell me your story."_

_It was late in the evening when the spy was roughly jarred out of her trance by the act of walking straight into what, at the time, felt very much like a steel wall. She only vaguely remembered having transformed into bipedal mode._

_Seeing through her optics for what seemed like the first time that rotation, the spy stared at the green abdomen that she'd just rammed her face into. How'd that get there? she wondered blearily._

_"Terabyte?" Skyquake asked her worriedly, shaking her gently, "Are you okay?"_

_Slowly the femme dragged her optics up to his face. Which she then proceeded to stare at blankly. _

_Sounding miles away to her, Dreadwing laughed gruffly. "This is the femme you're so fond of, Quake?"_

_Skyquake groaned and muttered a quick apology. She barely had time to wonder what for before he slapped her across the faceplates as gently as he could. Stumbling backwards a little bit, the femme yelped in surprise, her mind now fully in the present._

_"What on Cybertron was that for?!" She shouted angrily, her face stinging even under the mask. Then she looked around. "Uh... When did we pass the border?"_

_Behind her, she heard Dreadwing huff and mumble something about his dimwitted twin and being replaced by a two-bit malfunction. _

_"About two joors ago..." The jet trailed off, "Tera, are you alright?"_

_"Yeah." Her finial twitched tellingly. "Just got lost in a memory file."_

_Skyquake frowned at her. He knew she wasn't alright, but chose not to push it. "Why don't we stop for the night?"_

_Simultaneously both Dreadwing and the little spy growled, "Why don't we not?"_

_Dreadwing glared at her. She glared at Dreadwing. Skyquake put his hands on his hips and glared at the both of them. "Because I'm your ranking officer, and I say we stop here."_

_"Fine." She muttered, still annoyed with Skyquake for setting them up. Again, she and Dreadwing spoke in unison, "I'll take first watch."_

_They scowled at each other and both shouted in exasperation, "Would you quit doing that!?"_

_Throwing up her hands, the two-wheeler stifled an aggravated scream, settling for turning her back to him with her arms crossed. Ironically, Dreadwing had done the same._

_Smiling sadly at his two favorite people, Skyquake sighed deeply, laying himself down to recharge for the night. This would either work and they would sort it out, or this would be a very, __**very**__ long quartex._

All of Team Prime, excluding Bulkhead and the humans, looked around the abandoned city. As the night progressed the smog had dissipated completely and the full moon now shone clearly in the sky.

Arcee spoke first, her tone kind of annoyed, though Terabyte was unsure why. "No signs of life: human or Cybertronian."

Skating over to the road leading up to the volcano, Bumblebee bent over, inspecting the ground. There were clear tire tracks in the damp earth. **"These MECH people must think we're blind."**

"It's more likely to be a trap," Terabyte replied, about to finish her line of thought.

Instead, Skyquake completed her idea with one simple word. "Bait."

"Bumblebee." Optimus said calmly, "I believe you had your own mission to be completing?"

**"Oh! Yes sir."** Bumblebee buzzed, embarrassed at having gotten distracted. Cliffjumper tapped the scout on the elbow and pulled out an Energon scanner.

"C'mon, Buzz," the red mech said cheerily, "Let's go find some rocks to dig."

Terabyte pulled out her own scanner and a little bit away, Ratchet did the same. She glanced at the medic. "Medic... Are you able to differentiate between the Energon signal of a Cybertronian and a deposit? Because I'm reading two signals."

The red and white mech shook his helm with a groan. "One is the signal from before, the other is most likely Breakdown."

Arcee cut in grimly. "But we shouldn't have two readings unless-"

Returning the favor, Ratchet interrupted her sentence, ending it with firm confidence. "His life-En's been spilt."

"However, the question remains." Skyquake reminded quietly, his whole demeanor stiffened into 'public-safe' mode. "Which signal is which?"

The Prime spoke calmly, seemingly unaffected by the slight hiccup in the plan. "We have no way to determine that, Skyquake. However, both parties are capable of adequately performing both tasks, whichever one we find."

"So split up and be prepared for anything?" Arcee confirmed, a small frown growing on her face.

**"We'll take southeast." **Bumblebee volunteered quickly, not quite hiding his eagerness.

"Very well." Optimus replied, leading his team towards the northern signal.

Terabyte's sensitive finials just barely picked up Arcee's skeptical mutter. "Are you sure they wouldn't have been better off with Cliff in charge?"

To be honest, she completely agreed with the pink and blue femme.

After nearly a groon of tramping over the rugged terrain, Terabyte could smell the sharp, tang of ocean air. She, having been put in charge of the scanner, checked her readings again. Beside her, Skyquake's wings were twitching and he continually cast a glance of wistful longing towards the sky.

"I estimate we are about another half groon from the signal, sir." The femme told Bumblebee calmly, glancing at her painfully ground-bound friend. "Req-"

**"Lieutenant!" **Bumblebee interrupted her quickly, waving a hand in a rapid youngling-ish motion, suppressing her objection to the rank she thought she no longer held. **"You're older than me and as far as I care, you out-rank me, so... at least act like an equal. Okay?"**

"But-!" Terabyte had hardly started to explain that she was in fact younger than the scout when Cliffjumper cut her off.

"Don't push it, Short Stuff." The red mech said, his tone far less insulting than his words. A wide grin was on his faceplates, and he patted her helm playfully. "Bee's the boss here, follow orders."

In spite of knowing that he meant no offense, Terabyte simmered angrily for an astrosecond, feeling Skyquake bristle beside her. She grinned at her overprotective friend, only to have it fade away when she remembered that she couldn't have her mask down in the Autobots' presence.

"Y- Fine." She muttered finally, lightly touching Skyquake's arm so he knew she was okay with it. Forcing herself to make her words less formal, the Prussian blue and black femme said, "Bumblebee... I would sug- could Skyquake and I complete the journey by air?"

The scout nodded emphatically before whirring, confused. Like he'd just, in hindsight, processed what she'd just asked. **"Uh... you can't exactly fly you know... In case you hadn't noticed: Motorcycles aren't incredibly flight capable."**

Now the green jet beside her growled lightly, catching the slightly condescending tone. Skyquake snarled, muttering, "I'll teach_ you _how to fly, Bug!"

Again she gently touched his arm, hoping to calm him. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Cliffjumper, who smirked knowingly.

Her tone frighteningly calm, dripped with sarcasm. "Thank you for such valuable intel, Great, All-knowing Bumblebee. I certainly would never have guessed that I lacked that ability."

Cliffjumper coughed rather overtly, in a failed attempt to mask his snorting laughter. Bumblebee, despite his huge, round, innocent optics, managed to shoot the warrior a withering glare.

**"How exactly are you going to fly then?" **

"I will 'hitch a lift' as the humans say." Terabyte replied plainly, her voice returning to a neutral, respectful tone. "Do we have your permission, sir?"

Glaring at Skyquake for a second, Bumblebee's expression softened. **"Sure. Just keep within sensor range." **

Transforming into his alt-mode, Skyquake revved his engines, eager to fly again. Terabyte climbed on, kneeling on one knee-plate on the top of the jet. She got the impression that the green jet was grinning mischievously.

She knew that look... "What are y- aaaiiee!"

Terabyte clamped her vocalizer off harshly, her frame thrown flat against the jet, servos clutching the edges of Skyquake's wings tightly, the sudden lurch of speed having caught her by surprise. Beneath her, the ground was already far, far away; the thick clouds above approaching fast.

Icy cold rain drops splattered on her armor, totally soaking the small femme in moments. She hardly had time to yelp in shocked, laughing protest before they had emerged above the clouds, the rushing wind ripping the water droplets from her frame.

The femme lowered her battle mask, reveling in the feel of the wind in her face, Skyquake's reassuring presence bringing her a strong sense of security. She let out a happy scream as the jet pulled into a tight corkscrew spiral, plummeting downwards at what seemed to be an uncontrollable speed.

True to his orders, the point of land rushing up to greet them at an alarming rate was still within visual range of Bumblebee and Cliffjumper. Terabyte adjusted her optics to zoom in as much as she could - which sadly wasn't all that much - on the red warrior's expression.

Raising one hand in a playful salute, Terabyte watched as the look of incredulous realization dawned on his faceplates, closely followed by a quick succession of shock, hilarity, and worry.

As for herself, she completely trusted that Skyquake wouldn't let her fall.

Shock, as he realized who he was looking at and where she was headed and wondered why on earth she was there. Hilarity, as he realized who he was looking at and where she was headed and no doubt made some joke of it. And the funniest expression of all being worry, as he realized who he was looking at and where she was headed and it finally clicked in his head that - as far as he could tell - his adopted little sister was about to become his adopted little grease stain on the ground.

All this she observed and speculated in just a few seconds. Chuckling at the mech's play of thoughts so clearly laid out in his face, Terabyte glanced at the ground below them and screamed, strengthening her grip on Skyquake's wings. Realizing that she'd forgotten to unzoom her optics, the femme did so, still screaming as the earth seemed to reach up for them.

Unzooming her optics hadn't helped! Instinctively, the Prussian blue Autobot spy pulled up on his wings, as if she could pull him out of the suicide dive.

"Sky!" Terabyte screamed, beginning to wonder if he'd miscalculated and really would crash.

Finally he pulled up at just the last second, inertia continuing to drag him towards the earth so close that she felt the jet's underside just lightly scrape the ground before rising towards the sky. Around the almost-crash site, a huge cloud of dust and leaves fluttered in the air.

Catching sight of Cliffjumper before he saw them, still thinking they had crashed, Terabyte saw him standing there, mouth ajar. If he'd been a human, he would have been white as a sheet. Then he started running full speed towards the dust cloud, still not registering the scream of the jet engines above him.

Terabyte took a moment to appreciate the red mech's concern for her, before sending a two-word message, 'Look up'. Whooping with laughter, her spark pulsing rapidly, Terabyte grinned. Once her spark beat slowed, the femme lessened her death grip on Skyquake's sensitive wing panels. Where her hands had been, small, servo-shaped indentations marked the red rim.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, working to smooth out the dents without losing her balance, knowing just how sensitive wings were. "I didn't mean to, but I honestly thought you'd miscalculated and we were going to crash!"

He laughed, the motion jostling her lightly. "I had miscalculated."

The femme froze, processing that statement. "W-what?!"

"I just forgot to adjust for your added weight." Skyquake continued nonchalantly just to annoy her.

"You could have killed us!" She shouted, not really upset at all. In fact, she was grinning, having thoroughly enjoyed the thrill.

Skyquake seemed to consider this possibility, his engine humming contentedly beneath her. "Hmm... that's not necessarily a bad thing... they say the Well's pretty nice this time a vorn."

Playfully punching him in the cockpit, Terabyte laughed, pulling on an _almost_ stern tone. "Hey! No vacations to the Allspark for you, sir. I've already had to cancel enough unexpected vacation attempts on your part."

The green jet chuckled for a moment before his voice went deathly serious. "Yeah... Terabyte... I'm so sorry. What I did to you that day - that was unforgivable and unacceptable... I des-"

Gently laying a hand on his cockpit, she looked down at the fluffy clouds below them. "Sky... I'm just glad you're alive." She frowned minutely. "I... hoped you wouldn't remember that..."

Neither one spoke again for nearly a breem. Finally, Terabyte spoke up quietly. "We're arriving over the signal; we should probably go back to where the others are and land."

Wordlessly the mech began a slow decline. Raising her mask again, Terabyte stifled a sigh. The memory of that day would haunt her friend forever, she'd known him long enough to be certain of that.

"What on Cybertron was that!?" Cliffjumper roared, blazing with a fury Terabyte hadn't known the amiable mech was capable of. As soon as he'd decided that she was uninjured, the warrior had instantly turned on Skyquake. Both of his hands, transformed into blasters, were pointed at the jet's spark.

"She was perf-" Skyquake started defensively, but Cliffjumper ignored him.

"You could have got her killed!" He raged, also ignoring Bumblebee's orders to stand down. "You can go scrap yourself in the magma pits of Altihex for all I care, but I will _not_ let you hurt Terabyte!"

He saw the jet's armor flare up angrily as his posture slid into a full offensive stance. He didn't really care.

Terabyte stepped between them, probably wanting to stop the fight before it started. "Cliff, it's okay! I was perfectly s-"

The red mech cut her off. "It's not okay! He tried to kill you!"

"I was in no danger of injury, Cliffjumper." She told him firmly.

The green Decepticon behind her growled. "I would never hurt Terabyte. Never! I would rather die than see her come to harm."

Cliffjumper glared at the 'Con. A grin spread over his face as he processed the jet's statement and he relaxed, transforming his blasters back into hands smugly, saying jovially. "Alrighty then!"

He watched Terabyte relax slightly, probably thinking the situation had been resolved. Too bad for Skyquake, she was wrong. Never, eh? Rather dangerous word to use, especially when it wasn't true.

Conversationally, he started walking again. "About three and half quartex past... that was some pretty nasty denting you got, TB. Funny, I don't recall you mentioning what happened?"

Turning around, he saw that Skyquake had stopped, his faceplates drawn. Jackpot. As the humans would say, you really never should say never. Unfortunately, Terabyte had assumed a similar expression, from what little he could see of her face.

She shook her helm, a slight pleading tone touching her voice. "Cliff... drop it, please. What matters is that we're okay. I'm sure Sky will be more careful next time."

"What?" He asked feigning ignorance, maintaining an even, mildly cheerful tone. "Oh, you mean the whole flying-almost-dying thing. I already said that was alright. I was just curious about how that had happened."

Terabyte looked ready to defend the jet, but Skyquake spoke first, his voice hard, untelling. "My processors were still scrambled from the recent deep stasis."

"Ah." Cliffjumper replied obviously not believing that. He guessed that the jet didn't believe it either. But he'd let it pass, having made his point. Skyquake really shouldn't have said never. 'Cause they all knew that wasn't true. But he'd made his point quite painfully clear, so he'd let it go for now. "Well, I'm glad you're okay, TB. Had me worried there."

"Your expressions were pretty funny though..." She pointed out, her gold optics twinkling.

Moments later, a small, condensed file came in through a comm-line. Opening the file, Cliffjumper couldn't help but laugh. It was obvious that she was just trying to change the subject, but it worked. She'd sent him a memory sequence of his face as he realized she was flying to her doom. He did look a little ridiculous. Maybe more than a little.

**"Guys?" **Bumblebee whirred quietly from where he stood at the top of the small hill they were climbing. **"I think you might wanna come look at this..."**

Terabyte, Skyquake, and Cliffjumper hurried to the top of the hill, curious. The femme cocked her helm. "Come look at wha-oh..."

"What in the world?" Cliffjumper muttered, staring at the unnatural sight on the beachside.

Skyquake just stared at the structure, a slight smile tugging at his lip-plates. He had a look of amused understanding, like he'd considered doing something like that.

The femme continued to stare at the statue. "Why would someone do that? What's the point?"

"Sheer boredom." Skyquake said plainly. "Be on your guards. There is a possibility that the sleeper stationed here is awake currently."

**"A **_**sleeper**_**? Awake?"** Bumblebee asked skeptically, **"Who put you in charge anyway?"**

Ignoring the last question, the jet continued to explain. "The sleeper code automatically wakes its host every vorn, preventing the mech from returning to stasis for a quartex. That way the sleeper may perform his duty to guard his sector. Or in the case of this small planet, his continent." A faraway look touched his ruby optics. "Those quartex are very long when you are alone on a primitive organic world."

"Whoa, hang on." Cliffjumper cut in, his attention having been drawn by one particular sentence. "Did you just say there's six more 'Cons on this rock?"

Bumblebee glanced over at Terabyte doubtfully. **"Why didn't you tell us?"**

Terabyte raised her hands defensively, slipping back into formality as though it would somehow help. "I was not aware of this any more than you were, sir. The sleeper project was kept quiet. I was not even told what planet Commander Skyquake was stationed on."

"So..." Cliffjumper trailed off, finally asking, "Any clue who this guy is?"

Even Skyquake looked over at her curiously. Odd. She'd expected the fighter jet to recognize the psychotic Decepticon. However, the situation could have been worse. It could have been Sixshot; luckily that particular walking army had been offlined. He'd singlehandedly leveled a whole city and half the Autobot leveled before Magnus and the Wreckers finally took him out. All things considered though, it could definitely have been better too.

"Unfortunately." Terabyte replied dryly.

She glared at the glowing blue Energon crystal statue. The jet turbine shoulder pads, twin missile launchers perched on the back, the tank treads on the pedes, large fighter jet wings... and the empty faceplate.

The triple-changer's three personalities must not have managed to settle on which face should be carved. But there was no doubt about who the statue was depicting.

**"Who is it then?" **The yellow scout buzzed.

Terabyte sent each of the mechs all the intel she had on the mech via comm-line. "One of the most dangerous mechs I've had the misfortune of meeting in the Decepticon ranks. You better hope he's asleep."


	29. Midnight's Madness

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 29**

**Midnight's Madness**

_"What do you wanna be when you upgrade, Byte?" Smokescreen asked her, holding her hand and swinging it back and forth as they walked home from school._

_"Oh, I dunno." She said, shrugging lightly. "We're not going to upgrade for a long time yet... more than a decavorn maybe, more for you."_

_"Yeah..." The young white Praxian whined, "But haven't you even thought about it?"_

_"Well, yeah..." She muttered, faceplates heating up in embarrassment, "But Sire thinks it'd be a waste."_

_Taking a detour through the jade forest, Smokey prodded her arm insistently, "Okay, so what do you wanna be?"_

_"You know in the holo-vids? The secret agent that always knows what to do, and never panics no matter what's going on? I wanna be like that." She paused, imagining herself like that. Brave, invincible, likeable; breaking enemy lines, stealing information to save whole cities. "How 'bout you?"_

_"The one that always saves the day?" Her little brother asked excitedly, when she nodded, he pumped his small fist in the air. "Awesome!"_

_She frowned, watching as the memory twisted out of shape. A grayed, burnt, and mangled Smokescreen glared at her. "Me? Oh, I dunno." He mimicked cruelly. "You left me here to die, and you stopped looking for me. You left me to die..."_

_The spy lurched upright, vents heaving, vocalizer hoarse, spark pulse accelerated._

_Clang!_

_The sound metal colliding with metal filled her helm, scrambling her already shaken processors. A low groan escaped her and she opened her optics. The infuriated faceplates of Dreadwing filled her vision._

_"What in the galaxy is wrong with you, femme!" He roared. A rather large dent stood out proudly on his forehelm. She imagined it probably mirrored the aching spot on her own helm. _

_Very intelligently, she mumbled, "Huh? Whhaz Ssighwayy?"_

_The blue and gold jet, standing upright, glared at her, ignoring her question. "Can you not wake from recharge like a normal creature?"_

_Rubbing the horribly painful dent in her helm, the spy forced her optics into focus so she could glare back at him. "Can you not stop shouting, Stonehelm?"_

_After almost a klick of trying to glare holes into each other, the spy rose and bowed her helm deferentially. She repeated her previous question, "Where is Commander Skyquake? And what was your reason for hovering so... inconveniently close while I recharged? Sir."_

_Dreadwing scowled. "Skyquake is performing an aerial sweep of our surroundings. Your recharge involved much moaning and crying, which our commander discovered via my thoughts. He ordered that I wake you. I had not so much as leaned forward to shake you from your fits when you abruptly woke."_

_She considered this for a moment before nodding smartly. "Very well, sir. Shall we continue on our way?"_

_Rather than answering, the jet merely transformed and tore off into the sky. Scowling, the femme trudged forward, scanning the landscape for signs of Autobot activity. On the far horizon, she could see the outskirts of her home. They ought to arrive there within the next few rotations. This rotation marked the end of the first orn on field._

_Nearly a joor into the rotation, she came into a relatively small obsidian forest. The purple structures towered above her, branches intertwined so thickly they blocked out the weak light of the single sun they now orbited. The Autobots had messed with their planet so thoroughly that the world now wandered slowly from system to system. _

_She tripped on a pile of... empty ammo shells and shattered Energon cubes? They had been rather hurriedly buried. Examining the area more closely, and running a scan of the area, the spy frowned. Autobots had been here, and had probably left only recently. Which means they detected something... or more probably, they detected her._

_/Commander Skyquake, do you read me?/ She commed, charging her weapons and activating her battle systems. She'd probably just walked straight into an ambush. Switching to an open Decepticon frequency, she tried again, /Sky? Commander Dreadwing? I have located signs of Autobot activity at my coordinates. Requesting immediate backup./_

_Communications must have been blocked. Whoever these Autobots were, they at least knew how to make a rather sophisticated jamming signal…_

_As she continued cautiously on her way, a glint of metal caught her optics. Approaching the object, she crouched down and picked it up to examine it. A note was tied to a small pointy part on the smooth metal ball. The note was written on a thin, flexible strip of white material she'd only ever read about. It was apparently used like a datapad on primitive organic worlds._

_The note read: _

_Your pede-falls like an electrosaur,_

_We heard as you approached._

_We fled and watched as upon_

_Our camp a tiny femme encroached._

_We hate to be rude_

_So we left you this gift,_

_Thought my poetry's rather crude._

_Perhaps our gift will give you a lift_

_And send you to the two mechs above._

_To open the gift, do flip over this card_

_For instructions and details alike._

_Don't worry about thanking the bard_

_For to Sunny and Sides, your expression will suffice._

_She scowled at the insulting poem, and ran several full, multi-frequency scans of the sphere. According to the read out, it was perfectly harmless. Nevertheless, she warily turned over the card which, as she now suspected it was designed to do, tore free, bringing the thin spike along with it._

_This side of the note read:_

_Our only suggestion is self-preservation,_

_Run as fast as you can in any direction,_

_Though we really doubt it will help._

_Her optics widened as she realized what she was holding. Though the annoying poem went on, the spy snarled and flung the sphere - now ticking ominously - as far from her as she could, transforming and driving as fast as she could in the opposite direction. Behind her, she heard the sound of a huge explosion, and when she finally stopped and turned around, the spy saw that the whole surrounding area - within a fifty meter radius of ground zero - of the obsidian forest had been destroyed. Such firepower packed into a small hand-held device… Curious._

_Sensing a presence behind her, the femme spun around, weapons ready. The red mech didn't flinch, nor did he have any weapons trained on her. He stood with a casual, relaxed air about him. _

_"You're faster than you look." The Autobot praised, still showing no signs of aggression._

_"Who are you?" She growled, ready to blast the mech to smithereens at the slightest appearance of threat._

_"But dumber than we thought." A second, frighteningly cold voice commented from somewhere behind her. Backing up to look at both mechs, she saw that the two were twins. The angry one was golden, better armored, and he also had no weapons in sight; she doubted the lack of weapons would be any sort of disadvantage to him should he attack though._

_"Other than the guys that just tried to blow you sky high?" The red one asked, grinning lopsidedly. "The incredibly handsome red one is Sideswipe, namely, me; the grumpy one over there is Sunstreaker."_

_The names sounded vaguely familiar... optics dimming as she checked her databases, the twin Autobots watched almost eagerly as horror slowly grew on her faceplates. The psychotic, excessively armed war-machines had a record about a mile long. "Oh... scrap..."_

_Sideswipe grinned happily, seeming increasingly excited. From what she'd read of the mech, his excitement was because he was about tear her apart. Cheerily, he confirmed her horrified assessment, "Yep!"_

_The spy backed away slowly, armor shrinking down slightly as her dorsal plates connected with a particularly large obsidian pillar. Her mini-cannon twitched as she tried to decide who to shoot first. Doubting that shooting the gold one would do much good, she turned the cannon to the red one. That probably wouldn't help either though. Well, she certainly wasn't going to die a coward._

_Shooting Sunstreaker in the face, the small femme ran between the two mechs as fast she could, dodging weapons fire as she ran towards her target, sincerely hoping the plan would work. Running straight towards an obsidian tree, momentum and speed allowed her to run straight up the pillar, which she then shoved off of, flying with her dagger extended towards the approaching red and black Autobot._

_She plunged her dagger into his shoulder joint as she landed, successfully knocking the mech to the ground with a roar of pain. Swinging the dagger around, she felt it draw a thin scratch through the golden chest-plate behind her. The roar that escaped Sunstreaker had very little do with pain though. The words 'indignation', 'fury', and 'murder' described the sound much more accurately. _

_Wrenching her dagger from Sideswipe's shoulder, she tried to duck under the golden fist rapidly approaching her face. Astroseconds too slow, a brilliant streak of gold filled her vision. Maybe that was why he was called Sunstreaker…_

_Her optics fluttered open. Towering over her stood two fuzzy figures, large and powerful looking. She took in their features slowly, her processors aching and sluggish. Finally her mind spat out the one observation it had arrived at. _

_Wings._

_The figures had wings, so they were friendly. Which meant either she was alive, or she was dead and so were they. They seemed to still be in the exact spot of her battle with the twins though. Sky and Dreadwing must have taken care of them. Either that or they got a call from their commander. Her processors had finally started running properly, and now a colossal helm-ache had settled in. _

_Dreadwing looked down at her with a strange expression on his face. She had never seen that expression on his face before. "You survived."_

_She cocked an optic ridge at his surprised tone. He continued grudgingly, "And you effectively stood your ground against the twin Autobot front-liners."_

_The spy smiled. The strange expression on the blue and gold jet's face was... respect. Somehow, in only almost dying at the hands of the twins, she'd earned his respect. Glancing over, she saw that Skyquake was grinning widely, having arrived at the same conclusion. _

_Maybe she should have almost-died earlier._

The blue Energon crystal has been discovered by humanity many times, and it had acquired many names and uses over the centuries. For the most part, humans had no idea of the crystals' power, nor of just how _much_ of the crystal there was on the planet.

Energon crystals were most commonly classified in one of three categories: fluorite, calcite, and the common quartz. Occasionally, it would be declared a variety of sapphire, due to the depth of its 'blueness'.

Sparkling in the soft moonlight stood a masterfully carved statue of a triple-changer. It was carved from a huge, solid Energon crystal of the deepest blue. Terabyte stared at it, admiring its beauty while she ran a scan for spark signals. Due to the statue and its unique composition, a simple Energon scan would be pointless.

She scowled when the results came back, causing Bumblebee to look at her in question. **"What's wrong?"**

"I found him." Terabyte said, disconcerted. She'd recognize that particular spark signature anywhere. It had an odd, fractured resonance. "He's..."

Next to her, Skyquake's engine growled lowly. "Look alive, look up. We have company."

Above them a voice laughed, the pure insanity in the sound sending a collective shiver down the team's struts. "Hallo, *Ahtzobahtz! You should leesten to ze traitor: look alive, vhile you steell can!"

Missiles rained down on the group, scattering them as they fled the impact zone, charging weapons and firing at the jet as he flew around their shots with ease. Skyquake was soon up in the air with him, rising to equal territory. Blitzwing however, in spite of Skyquake's best efforts, still managed to lay heavy fire on those down on the beach side.

Terabyte stood on the soft, warm sand, her engine growling impatiently as she dug furiously through her subspace compartments. "Where are they? I know had some in- Aha! Not where they belonged..."

Loading the tiny button into her mini-cannon, the spy took aim and pulled the trigger. Right as she did so, one of the many missiles screaming down on the land crashed mere inches from her, the blast throwing her through the air, landing her with a painful thud in the wet sand.

Somehow, her shot had hit its target, evidenced both by Blitzwing's now-erratic flight pattern and the message now appearing on her HUD every klick stating his exact location.

She had just made this smug observation when a huge, icy cold wave of salt, water, seaweed, and to her immense disgust, several million microscopic organisms, washed over her. The femme felt it slip under her armor in several places, getting tangled in her gears.

Pulling herself out of the water, Terabyte flared her armor, her disgusted scowl deepening as the action failed to dislodge the sand and dead seaweed. Dodging the laser fire and missiles, she lowered her cannon pulse to level one, completely harmless to Cybertronians, though not incredibly good for the paint.

The Prussian blue two-wheeler examined the tiny tracking device. It was her last one... She'd have to make some more, though Soundwave's were by far the best quality. She loaded it into her cannon, taking aim again. This time her target was not the enemy though; in fact, Skyquake was about as far from being the enemy as a mech could be.

Terabyte fired, her aim just barely hitting its mark. A second set of coordinates appeared on her HUD alongside Blitzwing's. Just in case Skyquake was going to get in trouble with the Autobots over not waiting for an order.

She ran over to where Cliffjumper and Bumblebee were unsuccessfully attempting to get to higher ground. Crouching down beside them behind a large boulder, Terabyte took a few potshots, her frame still dripping and several strands of seaweed hung from her armor.

"Not the best time or place for a bath, Short Stuff!" Cliffjumper hollered, rising to take a shot, but quickly ducking down again to avoid a laser blast. One horn was now smoking.

"Says the mech trying to get his horns manicured." She replied, referring to the partially melted horns.

Bumblebee was busy trying to reload when suddenly the earth shook and a loud crash filled their audials. The scout shouted, **"This guy's everywhere!"**

Terabyte jumped out of their cover to see what the crash was, hoping it was Blitzwing crash-landing. Checking her coordinate sets, the spy groaned. This was really not promising...

"Sky's been grounded." She yelled over the now-concentrated fire pouring down on them. "We need to get the Con down, now! Try and make him angry!"

_/That's suicide!/ _Bumblebee commed, his damaged vocalizer not coping with the shouting.

"I've got a theory! Trust me!" She shouted back, firing at Blitzwing. And missing miserably. He was flying too fast to hit.

Cliffjumper blasted in the jet's direction, getting a lucky hit on the nosecone. "How do you expect us to do that?"

Completely misinterpreting the red warrior's meaning, Terabyte felt her spark sink. He was right. They had no reason to trust her. Especially since he knew. Casting him a resigned glance, the two-wheeler transformed.

She raced up the towards the top of the bluff they'd been attempting to climb, pushing her engines to the limit as she dodged Blitzwing's attacks as best she could. The missiles exploded on impact with the ground, throwing dirt and shrapnel down on her in showers. Each impact rocked her frame, threatening to throw her off cousrse. He'd seen her and focused his full attention on the small motorcycle speeding up towards him.

The edge was approaching fast, and the femme ran a few quick calculations, sincerely hoping the probability would turn out better than calculated. She had about a 26.4% chance of success: 73.6% chance that Blitzwing would twitch, causing her to fall to a wet, watery doom in the Arctic Ocean.

Her tires spun out as momentum carried her through the air, the bluff left behind as she soared. Transforming, Terabyte stretched her arms out in front of her, trying desperately not to think about the sheer stupidity of what she'd just done.

But Blitzwing didn't twitch.

She landed with a screech of metal on metal, servos digging into the triple-changer's frame like claws. He flew over land, pulling just about any flight maneuver he could think of to shake her off. Luckily for her, Skyquake had done them all and then some.

"Vhat are you doing, faymme?" He asked, incredulously, spinning into a tight corkscrew as she pulled open a panel on his cockpit. Judging by the tone, he was still being logical. She should be safe for right now. The wind rushed around her, tugging at her frame as they soared.

The silver T-cog lay exposed under the panel she'd just thrown out to the winds. It was different from a normal T-cog, larger and more sophisticated. In short, it was out of her sketchy medical depth. But she could probably still do it...

Terabyte fingered a delicate blue wire, humming thoughtfully. He started flying upside down, making her dig the servos of her other hand deeper into his frame, making sure she didn't lose hold. He seemed a little bit nervous now. "*Ahtzobaht... I demand to know vhat you are doing!"

The unstable mech was on the verge of changing faces on her. If her theory was right, she'd need to be off him when he did. She finally found the wire she was looking for. The one that would manually transform him. But she wasn't sure which form it would transform him to.

Hesitating with her servos gripped around the golden wire, Terabyte watched as the cog started to vibrate. She was too slow. Yanking her hand away from his T-cog, the femme loosened her other hand's death grip on the armor. This would be... challenging.

"Get your leettle shervos out of my frame!" He roared, his frame shifting beneath her.

Pressing her cannon into his cockpit, Terabyte snarled. "Transform and I will fire."

"Vhy you leettle-!" Terabyte charged her cannon, its gentle humming growing louder.

Blitzwing's whole entire frame finally shifted completely, armor plates falling back into place over a military tank, his angered voice laughing as Terabyte felt the wind screaming through her frame as she fell. "You vill not fire, because you vill be too busy dying!"

Despite being in total freefall and having no plan of escaping the rapidly approaching beach, Terabyte laughed. "Tanks are not incredibly aerodynamic. I dare say motorcycles are better fliers."

She heard his faces change in his voice. Logic. "Oh." Crazy. "Hello, vorld! How I long to feel your earthen touch!"

She glared at the rapidly approaching surface. There were just some days that she really hated being a two-wheeler. She was falling through the air like a dead weight, her limbs splayed out to her sides in a vain attempt to fall slower. Her processors spun to find a solution to her dilemma, but all her calculations told her was that she was going to die. The stars twinkled happily in the night's sky.

"Vait a minute," he said in all calmness, transforming back into his jet mode, switching back to insanity and flying circles around her, singing the song from the humans' 'Peter Pan', "I can fly, I can fly, I can fly!"

A warning flashed on her HUD. _Altitude: five hundred meters and falling._

Terabyte rolled her optics. That really wasn't incredibly necessary. But her self-preservation codes were programmed to inform her, just in case she somehow failed to notice.

_Altitude: two hundred meters and falling. Probability of survival: 12%. Evasive action advised. Altitude: fifty meters and falling._

Evasive action?! How could she take evasive action? The femme offlined her optics, shuttering them tightly, preparing for the inevitable...

She didn't want to die. There was still so much to do! She hadn't found Smokescreen yet... She supposed she never would now. She didn't even know if he still lived. Maybe she'd see him in the Well...

_Altitude: twenty meters and stable. Threat aborted._

Strong arms were gently wrapped around her knees and shoulders, having caught her so carefully, she'd hardly even felt it. Slowly she opened and onlined her optics.

Skyquake smirked at her. "I'm not the only one trying for unplanned vacations."

"Nice catch." She replied, vents heaving as she tried to calm her pounding spark. A little weakly, she whispered. "Could you put me down now? I think I'm done with thrill flights for awhile..."

He landed softly, setting her down on slightly shaky pedes. She cocked her helm at him. "I thought you were grounded. I watched you crash."

The large green mech shrugged one minutely bent wing. He didn't quite hide his pained wince. He grinned. "Do you know how hard it would be to pick up all the pieces if I let _you_ land?"

Underneath his teasing tone, Terabyte detected a slight waver. She'd scared him. "I... I'll be more careful, Sky. Promise."

Terabyte's finials flicked upwards. Checking the coordinates, the spy's optics narrowed. She looked over towards the Energon statue, where Cliffjumper and Bumblebee had rendezvoused. Cliffjumper was lying against it, blasting at the purple and tan jet. Bumblebee was standing nearby, starting to cut and collect the Energon to refine back at base. One whole arm was now missing.

"Oh... mech." She muttered. "How dumb can you get?"

Skyquake, not following her gaze, looked somewhat offended. "Uh... sorry?"

_/Bumblebee, Cliffjumper. Run!/ _She commed urgently. Glancing at Skyquake, she shook her helm, running towards the other two Autobots, cannon blasting at the Decepticon. Three missed, one hit on the wing tip. "Not you, the Autobots."

_/Why? We're sticking to the mission, and trying to keep you in one piece while you two __**lovebirds**__ get some quality time mid-battle. Enjoying the fireworks?/ _Cliffjumper sent back cheekily.

Terabyte frowned. She just really didn't get this mech. One moment he's acting like he'd just love to tear Sky apart piece by piece, the next he seemed perfectly okay with him.

_/Just shut up and run. Unless of course you want to add some shiny red shrapnel to the display./ _She snapped back, pausing in her firing as a small overheat warning flashed on her HUD. _/You are leaning against the equivalent of a nuclear bomb, attracting the weapons fire of a trigger happy nut job./_

_/Oh./ _His glyphs took on a more sober slant. _/Good point./_

As soon as her cannon had cooled down a bit, she fired off a few shots, all going wide this time. Skyquake was beside her, stopping every now and then to let loose his machine gun on the triple-changer.

To her surprise, the red warrior didn't run, like she'd advised. Instead he stopped firing and started examining the statue like it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. After some hesitation, Bumblebee followed suit, careful to hide the missing limb from view. Terabyte smiled, understanding the mech's plan.

Getting close enough to hear, the femme stopped, holding up a hand to stop Skyquake as well. "Watch."

"Hey, Decepti-creep! Truce!" Cliffjumper hollered up at the jet, making him stop mid-air.

He transformed into bipedal mode and landed with his hands on his hips, his blue face with the monocle in play. "Vhat do you vant, *Ahtzobaht?"

**"Only to compliment this amazing work of art!" **Bumblebee answered swiftly, getting into the role now.

Blitzwing's faces all blurred together for a moment before finalizing on the jack-o-lantern. He giggled. "Ooh! You really zink so?"

"Oh yes," the red mech agreed, nodding emphatically as they both took a few discreet steps away from the statue. "If Cybertron were still light, it would be in our biggest museum. I can just see it now:" He took another step back and framed the statue with his servos, lowering his vocalizer frequency to sound like the pre-war news mechs. "Blitzwing the Great, a grand sculpture made by the handsome mech himself!"

The calm blue face regarded them skeptically. "Eez zis true, Yeellow?" Terabyte watched as Blitzwing's face slowly transitioned from calm to angry. She shuddered slightly. Creepy. "If you dare to lie to me, I vill _tear_ you apart vith my _bare hands_!" Again his face slowly melted into the slightly glitchy face of insanity. The holo-matter face destabilized into a static-y buzz for a moment. He threw his helm back and cackled. "Feel free to shcream leettle *Ahtzobahts!"

**"Um..." **The scout's faceplates clearly showed that he too was disturbed by the mech. **"O-of course! The statue is very nice, worthy of recognition, definitely."**

Terabyte mentally facepalmed, though her mask hid her grimace. Not good. Cliffjumper had a similarly chagrined expression.

Rage returned on the tan and purple triple-changer's face: the red angry face with the split denta. He bellowed, "Very nice?! I spent _three vorns_ creating zis mashterpiece! You vill burn in ze fires of ze eenferno!"

**"Whoops." **

Cliffjumper grinned, running full speed away from the statue and Blitzwing. Behind him, the triple-changer roared. "*Ahtzobaht cowards!"

"Roll for it, Bee." The red horned mech said, turning around and winking at the fuming Decepticon, "Sorry Blitz, the only mech burning today will be you."

He shot the Energon statue right in the face, igniting the raw crystal. Transforming he shot forwards out of the blue smoke, the explosion following right on his tail. Bumblebee, Terabyte, and Skyquake had already reached a safe distance and watched the deathly beauty of the explosion. From the center of the smoky cloud the howl of jet engines were heard, and soon enough far in the distance shot up the tiny shape of Blitzwing making his escape.

Cliffjumper finally emerged from the smoke and transformed, grinning. His frame was slightly scorched and steaming. All optics on him, the mech bowed with a flourish, his vocalizer frequency still lowered dramatically, "And... Cliffjumper the Magnificent saves the day once again!"

Skyquake leaned in to mutter in her audial, "The word 'egotistical' ringing any bells?"

Terabyte's engine let out a strangled sounding squeak as she vainly tried to contain her laughter. Finally she just let it out, earning her a strange look from Bumblebee. Once she regained her composure, the femme looked up at the tiny sliver of red on the horizon, making a striking display of color against the black sky. A new day would soon be dawning.

**"The others should be back at base." **Bumblebee said quietly, also gazing at the beginnings of the sunrise. **"We better report this to Optimus."**

(*Autobot in Cybertronian)

**Three Years Previous**

The white mech opened his mouth in a gaping yawn as he marched back and forth in front of the huge Cybertanium door. He used to study the intricate glyphs and carvings etched into its massive surface, but by now he'd memorized every single curve and stroke. Really, there was no need to march like this, but he was _really_ bored. Besides, he looked way more intimidating when marching with his gun positioned just like... so.

Of course he wouldn't tell anyone else that.

Except he might have told Terabyte. Smokescreen sighed deeply. She'd promised she'd find him... He hoped she was okay.

Eh, who was he kidding? Shockwave had probably offed her just like everyone else. A blurry memory of her face surfaced in his mind. He missed her. Her sarcasm, her strength, her teasing, her mother-like wisdom - for a youngling.

She had been a good big sister. Smokescreen couldn't have asked for better.

A loud crash echoed through the enormous halls of Iacon. Smokescreen jumped in surprise, charging his hand-held gun and pulling the other one out of subspace. When nothing happened for several more klicks, the guard's shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"Probably just the old coot falling off his berth again..." He muttered, sitting back down next to the door with his back against the corner of the door frame. Since he was a doorwinger, he couldn't exactly lean against the wall itself very comfortably.

This dusty old place never saw any action. The most exciting thing that had ever happened since he got here was when the hydrogen infused Energon came. Which was really awesome until the Elite Guard took it away because it had been shipped to the wrong place. They'd also charged fines for the two cubes he had already celebrated with. The icy cold artificially sweetened Energon was the closest thing to sweet-En Smokescreen had seen since he was a second frame youngling!

He wanted action! He wanted to be out there... in the front lines, blasting 'Cons and proving his metal! Smokescreen's engine roared in anticipation. He would be great out there, one of the Autobots' best mechs, maybe even a leader! A tiny grin spread over his white faceplates. It was his destiny. He just knew it.

The floor rumbled ominously beneath him, sounds of an intense fire fight rattling in the usually silent air. The white and blue mech leapt to his pedes again, transforming into his sleek, streamlined vehicle mode. Blue racing stripes streaked down his white hood and sides, accented with a small amount of red, just like his base mode. With significantly more zeal than perhaps necessary, the vehicle shot down the huge arched halls.

Smokescreen listened with satisfaction as the roar of his engine echoed through the building, his tires squealing as he turned a sharp corner. Under normal circumstances, he wasn't allowed to drive inside the Hall of Records. But surely this whatever-was-going-on called for an exception?

Smoke and dust poured from the entry, and Smokescreen was forced to an abrupt stop as a result of a rather sudden and painful encounter with a marble helm nearly as tall as he was. It was the helm of Solus Prime. The front gate used to be lined with giant statues of the original Thirteen forged by Primus, who was now the planet's core, a.k.a. Vector Sigma.

Though technically, according to Alpha Trion, Vector Sigma was just an artificial life-form created by Primus to act as a sort of mediator to speak and imbue from Primus' life force when required whilst the titan slept. The Well of the Allspark was basically Primus' spark, and when a Cybertronian died, their life force would return to Primus; rejoining the Allspark from which they originally had life.

Well. Smokescreen transformed and gaped at the crumbled gates. None of the statues remained completely unscathed. Finally he regained his senses and held his black guns at the ready, peering through the dust in search of enemies.

Hearing pede-falls behind him, Smokescreen spun around, just barely making out a shadowy figure approaching through the clouds of dust. Moments later there was a massive explosion of light and agony in his helm.

_"Well now I know the drill sergeant wasn't joking when he said he could make me see stars..." _The young white mech thought blearily. Inky black nothing devoured reality, leaving him in the dreamy void of unconsciousness.


	30. Flood Gates

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 30**

**Flood Gates**

_She sat alone on the hill side in the dark of the night. With only one sun, the nights were darker than ever before. The young spy wondered sadly how long it would be before Cybertron had no sun at all._

_A small purple light shone in the center of their little camp, surrounded by ammo casings. The femme glanced back at the camp, smiling slightly under her mask. On one side, Skyquake lay in calm, peaceful recharge. On the other side, Dreadwing lay curled up tightly, his vents hissing and sputtering sporadically. Must have got something caught in his systems._

_She turned away, scanning the area. All calm. Gently running the magnetic stylus over her various dents, the spy looked out over the city of Protihex. What little remained of it anyway. No attempts to rebuild had been made. After all, in the middle of a war, who had time for construction?_

_A tiny sliver of gold touched the horizon. The femme watched, mesmerized as that pathetic shred of light spread out across the black sky, slowly bringing a glorious blend of golds, reds, and purples into the indigo sky. Her mask lowered of its own accord._

_Somehow in the light of the dawn, she felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the war hadn't taken all the beauty from Cybertron. Maybe... there would still be a world left to win victory over. Soon enough the splendor of the sunrise faded into an even, pale blue sky. Even in the light of day, the stars twinkled in the heavens. The three moons shone in a proud cluster in the morning sky._

_A streak of green caught her optics and she looked out towards the portion of the city that had attracted her gaze. A pained grimace seemed to etch itself onto her faceplates. What had caught her attention was the jade forests she'd so loved as a youngling. _

_All that remained of the majestic forest was a mass of charred stone resembling many spears piercing the once beautiful landscape._

_The memories were so painful, they felt like physical wounds. Her spark ached. Tears of coolant began to pour from her gold optics. To see her home again after so long... A harsh sob wracked her frame as her vents caught._

_A while passed before she even noticed the large hand rubbing her back in soothing consolation, or the shoulder into which she was crying. When she finally did notice, it wasn't those two things that cause her to notice. _

_It was the strong, low thrum of his spark pulsing near her audials. The sound of its calm power was like an anchor for her own frightened and angry young spark._

_Straightening up, she stared at the coolant stains on his army green shoulder with slight guilt. Turning her wet, gold optics up to his face, she saw him gazing out over the city with saddened optics. _

_"Hey." She said quietly, her vocalizer a little static-y._

_"Hey." Skyquake echoed, looking down at her with concern. "You going to be okay?"_

_"No." The small Prussian blue femme stated bluntly. "But I'll manage." She paused for a moment before asking the question that had been tearing at her since the start of the mission. "Did... did you choose... here?"_

_The jet averted his gaze and remained silent. She bit her lip-plates, a pang of hurt striking her spark. His silence spoke louder than any words could. She scooted away minutely._

_"Why?" She tried to hide her hurt and anger. She could tell by his expression that she'd failed. She continued accusingly, "You __**knew**__ what the Autobots did to my people, to me... you knew..."_

_Skyquake opened his mouth as if to say something, his faceplates telling of some inward battle. He closed his mouth again, his optic ridges drawn together in pain. _

_Finally he sighed as if settling for the second best of something. "I thought... it would help you come to terms with it. Allow you to put aside your rage to make room for something more lasting..."_

_His arm wrapped loosely around her small shoulders, Skyquake refused to look her in the optics. Her frame went tense, her processors unwilling to even consider laying aside her vengeance. _

_"Sky, you don't get it." The spy said firmly, rising to her pedes for better effect. "I 'came to terms' with what happened the rotation it happened. I have no delusions regarding what the Autobots did. And I'll lay aside my rage once they've all paid."_

_Her anger made her deaf to his sad whisper, "Haven't we all paid enough for this War?"_

The swirling green portal shut behind them with a loud, whooshing hiss. The Prime was standing calmly in the center of the room, waiting for them. His usual aura of leadership seemed especially strong, making the whole team automatically sober; each mech on his best behavior.

"Autobots, report."

Bumblebee stepped forward first, pulling out the life-size Energon arm from subspace. **"We found the signal's source: a full-size statue of a 'Con."**

"Shortly after which, we were attacked by the aforementioned Decepticon, who was responsible for the statue's existence." Terabyte continued, her tone neutral.

"And… we totally kicked his aft, bringing this arm with us as a trophy." Cliffjumper summarized quickly.

The spy grimaced noticeably – noticeable at least to Skyquake, in spite of the mask – at the warrior's not-entirely-true assessment. "The Decepticon in question, designated Blitzwing, showed his armament and skill set to be considerably superior to our own."

**"The guy's a psycho. Like, not even just a little bit; he's gone **_**way**_** off the deep end." **Bumblebee said, beeping and whirring emphatically to make his point. **"**_**And**_** he's a triple-changer."**

Optimus thought carefully on each of their observations for several klicks before nodding decisively. He turned to Skyquake, who up until now had been silent, keeping his helm respectfully lowered other than to glance down at Terabyte when she spoke.

"Skyquake?"

The jet looked up sharply. He hadn't expected the Prime address him. Surely as a new defector, his opinion wouldn't matter? He inclined his helm deferentially, "Sir."

"Anything you would like to add to that?" Optimus's tone held no _apparent_ malice or bad intent.

"Yes." He replied, his frame stiff. "Blitzwing and I were by no means the only sleepers on this Earth. There's five more, located somewhere in Asia, Africa, Australia, and the other America."

The Prime frowned minutely. "Do you know where exactly and who they are?"

Skyquake smirked, knowing exactly what all the Autobots were thinking. If the next five were as powerful as he was, they'd be doomed. It was easy to decide how he would reply. He still remembered Technahar quite vividly. Not to mention the Prime had not too long ago let his scout tear part of his processors out. Having defected made a negligible impact on his choice.

Shrugging lightly, he answered simply, "Sorry."

The Prime's minute frown grew deeper, though whether at the news or at his nonchalance was unclear. Terabyte shot him an oddly reproving glare. His mangled wing twitched painfully.

"Are we dismissed, sir?" Skyquake asked more respectfully, for Terabyte's sake. "The team has sustained damage that will need to be repaired."

"Yes. I recommend you have Ratchet, our medic, examine your wings." Optimus said, tone just short of an order.

Skyquake nodded, the motion yet again jarring his injured wings. "Recommendation noted." As a side note, he added, "Sir."

The large jet nodded to the other Autobots and marched off back to his cell. Behind him he heard Terabyte quietly tell the Prime, "My apologies, sir. Skyquake is... unused to holding lower rank."

He walked right past the quarters he had been told were to be shared with him. When he reached his cell in the brig, Skyquake sat down on the berth with a hiss as one wing scraped the wall. The constant pain in his wings had not been good for his mood or his patience, but he'd seen the medic's hatred towards him.

There was no way he'd let that mech touch his wings.

A few breems later, he was right in the middle of a rather humiliating attempt to repair his own wings, involving twisting around as far as his frame would allow, with one pede on the berth with the other firmly braced against the table. Meanwhile he was discovering the embarrassing fact that he could barely reach his own wings due to his bulky, custom made shoulder armor. He was futilely trying to maneuver around the shoulder with a magnetic stylus, straining his neck to see what he was doing.

If someone walked in on him right now... Skyquake was certain he'd die of embarrassment.

The familiar beautiful, tinkling laughter touched his audials. Terabyte was leaning against the door way, her mask down and a bemused smile touching her lips.

"Need some help?" She asked gently, her voice laughing at him.

He put the stylus down and let his braced pede hang down, balancing one arm casually over his raised knee. He grinned sheepishly. "And you stood there watching me struggle, how long?"

She walked over grinning like a youngling with a secret. "Not telling."

Grabbing the stylus, the little femme started working gently on his left wing. She moved quickly and carefully, the result of doing repairs on his wings more times than he could count.

Neither one of them had ever really trusted medics, but ever since the encounter with Shadowlight and the discovery that Knockout was performing personal experiments on his patients out of sheer boredom, neither would go to the medical department except for in emergencies.

She worked in silence for a while, her movements growing more and more agitated. It continued to the point that every dent popped out with a loud, reproving twang that stung like human bullets in his wings.

Skyquake wasn't sure what he'd done to make her mad, but he was beginning to dread what she would do when she reached the fractured wing framing on his left wing. Still, he said nothing.

Finally the dreaded moment came and Skyquake winced as she carefully, but mercilessly, pulled off the green plating to get to the fracture. He felt like bracing himself, but he knew that doing so would mess up the realigning. Instead, the jet offlined his ruby optics and took in a huge vent, holding it in as he waited.

"This might hurt a little." Terabyte said quietly, her voice neutral as she gently positioned her cool hands to the proper place for optimum realignment. The cool metal of her servos felt good on the overheated framing.

He nodded rigidly, ready for the pain. It didn't come. Involuntarily he felt himself relaxing, though he thought he hadn't tensed. He let out the vent of air slowly in relief.

_Snap!_

Fire laced through his nerve relays as fast as lightning, racing all throughout his left wing and down his spinal struts.

"Oh for the love of Cybertron..." Skyquake hissed, his ruby optics wide open as the pain still blazed through his systems. His wing tips had gone numb. When the burning faded, "Might hurt a little?! What did I do? Wasn't blasting me with the cannon I designed for you enough?"

He turned around to face her, in spite of everything careful not to smack her upside the helm with his wings. Knocking her unconscious in the act of turning around would certainly not help matters.

His lips quirked upwards slightly at the thought. At the moment though, that didn't seem like half bad of an idea...

"You shoot me in the back, I save your life anyway. To repay me, you cause as much pain as possible 'fixing' me. What sort of deal is that?" He continued more calmly, forcing himself not to loom over her, which was hard enough when he _wasn't_ angry due to her size.

She looked up at him with challenge in her optics. "You abandon me for seven vorns then call me a traitor, I save your life anyway. To repay me, you cause as much pain as possible 'joining the Autobots' for me. What sort of deal is that?"

Skyquake's whole demeanor visibly wilted. The fists of guilt clenched down on his spark, wrenching at his very being. He already felt like recycled slag for it, but hearing it from Terabyte only made it worse. His faceplates stung as if she'd just slapped him as hard as she could.

She was right. He had very little to be complaining about, comparatively. He was alive, he was with Terabyte, and the Prime was merciful enough to let the killer of his SIC defect. Besides, whether she'd been nice about it or not really didn't matter in the long run, she'd still fixed him.

He tilted his helm to stare down at his pedes. The mech couldn't bear to look into her golden optics. "I'm sorry, Terabyte... you deserved better... you deserve better."

Terabyte took a little step forward, placing herself right into his line of sight and looking up at him with gentle, beautifully yellow optics. A tiny smirk tugged on her dainty lips. Skyquake felt his spark crack as he studied the thin, jagged scar that ran from just below her left optic down to just above the corner of her lip. If he had only been there for her sooner...

"Sky, you bolt helm." She said fondly, shaking her pointed helm at his foolishness. He snorted. Yep. That was definitely him. A complete and total two-bit bolt helm. She deserved so much better...

The femme let out an exasperated sigh, cocking her optic ridge as if to say, 'Really?'. Aloud, she said, "And... you're still being a bolt helm. I can see it in your optics."

He grinned as he realized her meaning. "And My Lady's orders are...?"

Her lip-plates split into her wide dazzling grin. "Simple really, sir. _Stop_ being a bolt helm." Her grin faded and she looked at him seriously. "And while you're taking my orders; don't get hurt so much."

"Yes ma'am!" Skyquake said, standing to attention and saluting smartly. He meant it deeply, and saw that she knew that. He smirked, "Any other orders, ma'am?"

Terabyte smiled mischievously. "Better be careful... I could ask you to do anything... Lucky for you, I only have one -most tedious- task for you: fix your paint job and go rest."

Skyquake saluted her again before spinning on his heel and marching off. Terabyte smiled at the green jet as he walked out of the brig, making his way towards his quarters.

Messed up paint job or not, he really was her knight in shining armor. Though not in the humans' romanticized way. He was her protector and friend. And he'd lay his spark down for her far quicker than she liked.

The pink and blue femme leaned casually against the wall, watching Cliffjumper as he ran the obstacle course again, still trying to beat Bumblebee's record.

A few feet from the finish, the red mech got cocky – at least, cockier than usual – and he tripped on the target he'd just shot down. Arcee smirked as he lost his balance, arms flailing in a failed attempt to prevent the fall. Somehow by a stroke of sheer chance, Cliffjumper landed on his blaster, causing it to fire in the general direction of a target as he skidded over the finish line.

Arcee leaned her helm forward, indigo optics wide in disbelief. She muttered under her breath, "You've got to be kidding..."

Right there, the target he'd accidentally shot at stood proud and smoking. Where the bull's-eye used to be, there was now a charred hole. A perfect shot, by pure luck.

A similar expression was on Cliffjumper's face, though he recovered much quicker. Standing up and swaggering towards her, the mech dusted off his hands, grinning so widely she wondered how he even managed it. "Now. Am I awesome or am I awesome?"

She raised a skeptical optic ridge, still staring at the target. "You landed on your gun and it misfired. I'd hardly call that 'awesome', Cliff."

"Aww, c'mon 'Cee! You saw me! I hit that bull's-eye fair and square as a direct result of my awesomeness." Her partner declared, puffing out his chest proudly. "What's more, I beat our little Gold-i-bug's record."

Arcee looked down at the time piece she'd used for recording the two mechs' scores. That way there was no controversy over the accuracy of internal chronometers. An evil little smirk lit her face.

"You did?" She asked neutrally.

Cliffjumper's pale blue optics widened as he ran over to snatch the still-ticking time piece. "Nonononono! You didn't! Arcee! I've been trying to beat that score for ages! How could you not record it?"

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, crossing her arms and casually leaning her weight on one pede. "I guess I got distracted by your 'awesomeness'."

"Argh-!" Cliffjumper made a strangled sound, pacing in an aggravated circle before turning around quickly, his optics twinkling, a look of triumph reigning on his face, "Aha! So you _admit_ that I'm awesome!"

The stealth warrior rolled her optics, laughing at the mech who was now doing a little happy dance at his victory. "You're worse than a sparkling!"

The mech stopped mid-dance, raising a servo to his helm, indicating a comm. "I- no... He's on his way where? ...No, I'm not with him... Yes sir, I'll go make sure the tea and crumpets are set out for our lovely-mannered guest!"

He winked at her puzzled expression and ran out of the training room, calling over his shoulder, "Sorry, his murderous majesty awaits!"

Arcee frowned at the closed doors for a moment before shaking her helm. He must have been talking about Skyquake.

Cliffjumper raced through the halls as fast as he could, finally turning a corner and coming to a screeching halt in front of the huge fighter jet.

"There you are. Been looking all over for you!" The red warrior said pleasantly, a smile plastered on his face.

"Cliffjumper." Skyquake replied tonelessly.

"If you'd kindly follow me, I will escort you to my _humble_ abode, where I'm sure the Boss Bot told you you'd be staying?" He asked, walking briskly towards his quarters.

Skyquake never responded, but his heavy pede-falls followed. When they arrived at his room, Cliffjumper opened the door with a flourish, gesturing that the Con enter first.

They both stood just inside the room, examining it. It was nothing fancy. Gray walls, gray floor, gray roof. Gray berth, black desk, black chair. A smaller offshoot from the main room held a smaller berth, which he had used for reading and report writing.

The only customized part of the room was a medium sized showcase in one corner. Inside the glass case were various mementos he'd collected over the years. An award of valor, a cyberwolf's fang, a melted Decepticon-make pistol from when he killed Vortex...

"Impressive." Skyquake said dryly.

"Hey, cut a mech some slack! It's not like we get a lot of free time, what with you and your buddies trying to kill us twenty-four seven." He replied lightly. "You're on the big bed, I'm in the alcove, good cycle!"

About a joor later, he still lay on the berth staring at the dull gray roof, battle systems active. He'd decided not to recharge until the other mech did. There was no way he'd sleep with that mech active. So he waited, listening carefully for the venting to slow, internal systems to settle into a quiet, steady hum. But Skyquake didn't seem too keen on sleep.

So he was still waiting.

And waiting and waiting... and waiting. Cliffjumper sighed gently. This was going to be a very long night.

**Eight**** days later**

Ratchet glared at his datapad angrily. His vents were whirring a little faster than normal to cool his aggravated systems.

The Prime had let her defect far too easily. She was a high-ranking 'Con under _Soundwave_! And all he did was put her on a four month probation before making her an official Autobot. Optimus wasn't being careful enough.

So yes they needed more firepower. Yes she had intel and a number of useful skills. That didn't warrant so naively trusting Soundwave's right-hand mech!

The medic stood up sharply, sending his chair halfway across the room with a crash as one of the legs broke under the force. He growled and started pacing. Anything that got in his way simply got harshly kicked aside.

What's worse, since the ordeal with the Cybonic plague, the Autobot leader had pretty much promoted her to Lieutenant.

Ratchet threw his wrench at the wall in anger, flicking it out of his subspace and throwing it in a single fluid motion. It hit the concrete wall with a loud crack, leaving a large wrench-shaped cluster of cracks.

"Slag it all, end this vorn she'll be second in command!" The red and white mech froze on the spot, his faceplates going tight. He scowled, his turquoise optics narrowing.

The pieces of this confounded conundrum finally clicked into place in his mind. Con defector. Pointless tendencies to try to hide emotion. Excessive adherence to protocol. Quick acceptance due to negative circumstances.

He leaned his hands on the table to steady himself. His hands were shaking with fury. Prime couldn't be doing this. He wouldn't allow it.

The femme might have a select few cases in which she _almost_ resembled Prowl in the most basic of ways. That did _not_ make her worthy of replacing him!

His engine growled deeply and in a rush of madness he flung the table and all of its contents across the room. Papers and files exploded into a cloud of white.

The door opened slowly and carefully behind him and he whirled around, a hammer from subspace in hand. Not as good as wrench... The quick movement kept the papers fluttering madly in the air. The medic couldn't see who it was, but from their mannerisms assumed it was Prime.

"You're more of a nutcase than Blitzwing if you thought, even for one _nanosecond_, you could ever replace Prowl!" Ratchet roared, his optics blazing, "Especially with a sneaking, lying, bloodthirsty, vengeful... stuck up, _youngling_!"

At this moment the last few papers fell gently to the floor, leaving the air almost painfully empty between himself and the person standing in the doorway.

Vents heaving, armor flared, the medic glared at the person standing in his office. He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

**Approximately**** one minute ago**

"You're more of a nutcase than Blitzwing if you thought, even for one _nanosecond_, you could ever replace Prowl!" Ratchet roared, his optics blazing, "Especially with a sneaking, bloodthirsty, vengeful... stuck up, _youngling_!"

Prussian blue and black armor clamped tightly against her protoform, so tightly the bio-lights down her sides were hidden from view. Gold optics shone bright and wide. Shock and fear were written on her faceplates, having worked hand-in-hand to tear her mask down. As of yet, the spy hadn't noticed this fact.

The last piece of paper landed with a light rustle that seemed to somehow echo in the deathly silence.

She blinked slowly and deliberately, her optics locked on the medic's. She'd never never seen the medic so angry before. When medics got angry, people nearby suffered. When medics got livid... Terabyte shuddered at the thought, mental images effectively finishing the thought line.

Closing her optics and pulling in a huge, calming draft, she said flatly, "I have a significantly large vocabulary of adjectives that may aid you in insulting me. Unless you're finished, sir?"

Her fear had, rather than subduing her, made her lose her tight grip on self-control.

Ratchet blinked. "Well. I can certainly add 'insolent', 'little', and 'twerp' to the list..."

She sneered at him. The femme still hadn't realized that her mask was lowered. "Which do you want first, Medic? My helm on a surgical platter, or this report you requested?"

The medic growled huffily. "Give me the report."

Terabyte thrust it into his hands, her lip-plates still curled upwards slightly. "Why would you think I'm trying to replace _Prowl_? He was a sparkless killer of thousands of mechs."

He had barely glanced at the report before he flung the datapad in the direction of his desk. "How _dare_ you judge him? You never knew him!"

Her optics turned stone cold, as did her voice. "I knew the mech I saw. And I saw him kill broken mechs, begging for mercy, without hesitation. I knew the mech I saw behind the emotionless optics the color of his victims' life-En. Maybe he was a decent mech. Maybe he was even a good mech. I don't know. But I can pass judgement based on what he did, and the impact he made."

Her bitterness melted into sadness, showing plainly on her revealed faceplates. She looked like a frightened, worried youngling. "But that goes for us all, doesn't it?"

She had seen and caused so much pain in her relatively few vorns... Terabyte clenched her jaw and glared at the roof, forcing her emotions down. No place for weakness in war. Fight now and mourn when the war's over.

Ratchet's enraged expression slid away to be replaced with sympathy, understanding, and his own vorns of sadness and regret. He could only imagine the mental anguish that she was going through in the aftermath of Megatron's full body take-over. He hesitated before stepping towards her, subspacing the medical hammer. He spread his arms wide, inviting a hug.

"It's okay to show when you're hurting, youngling." He said quietly. "That goes for us all, doesn't it?"

After a slight conflict between common sense and tentatively growing trust, Terabyte leaned into the offered hug, feeling very much like a lost sparkling. She hadn't had a fatherly hug since Bullwing terminated. Makeshift had never been the hugging type.

The reminder of her sire and mentor broke her the rest of the way. She hugged the medic in return, letting out all the emotions she'd tucked away, tried to bury. As she leaned into the embrace, Terabyte could almost imagine it was her sire she was hugging. Ratchet was about the same size, his hug had the same slightly awkward feel to it...

Ratchet patted her back gently. She ignored the quiet little voice in the back of her mind, which was currently reprimanding her for losing control and reminding her of the damage medics were capable of.

Finally she pulled away from the medic, whispering. "I haven't been a youngling for a very long time, Medic."

"I know." The medic growled suddenly, "Slagging Cons! If it weren't for them, you'd have still been a youngling just seven vorns ago."

She frowned, confused. "Alpha Trion upgraded me, not the Cons."

She reached up to wipe the pink coolant off her faceplates, optics widening as she realized why the medic had been able to read her so easily. She should have noticed earlier.

Ratchet saw her expression before she could snap her defenses back into place and ordered, "Oh no you don't. Let me see that..."

He reached forward and firmly gripped her chin, tilting her helm this way and that, examining the thin, jagged scar on the left side of her face. She squirmed and tried to pull away, but the medic's vice-like hold was unbreakable.

"Could have been so easily prevented with proper medical care..." The red and white mech muttered, shaking his helm with disapproval.

Terabyte involuntarily shuddered at the idea of what could have been considered 'proper medical care'.

His disapproving frown deepened at her reaction. The medic's engine growled louder. "What caused this?"

The spy shrank away from his inspection, puzzled by his anger. It wasn't like it was her fault. She glared at him, "Medical saw. Cut all the way through the mask."

"A medic did this!?" Ratchet exclaimed. He lowered his hand and walked away and whispered, most likely thinking she wouldn't hear, "No wonder you're so scared..."

As soon as he released her, she snapped the mask back into place, choosing to act as if nothing had just happened. Half way through the door, Terabyte paused, "Thank you, sir. Good cycle."

**One**** orn later**

Heavy, cold rain mixed with hail pattered down on the red-haired girl as she rode along the narrow, winding highway. Lightning danced across the black sky. Close beside the girl and her motorcycle drove a fire engine red Dodge Challenger with metal bull's horns mounted on the hood. On the wrong side of the road.

She growled as her soaked hair whipped the leather jacket, making an annoying, constant slapping sound. Wet, dead leaves were plastered to the holo-form and her own frame. Mud sloshed into cracks in her plating, the gritty stuff grinding in her joints.

_/So, Short Stuff. How d'you like northern Washington?/ _Cliffjumper sent her cheekily, his windshield wipers flinging all the junk on his windscreen onto her.

_/This excessively organic dirt ball is a wound to the galaxy./ _Terabyte replied grumpily, chilled to the protoform, filthy, and dented from the hail. She was also getting really tired of having to swerve out of the way of suicidal deer.

Objectively, she supposed it might have been a pretty drive. Had it been daytime, sunny, a wider road, deer-free, and without some whale of a woman behind her riding her tailpipe with the brights on.

_/Yeah. I just love this state./ _Terabyte summed up sarcastically. _/With all due respect, why in the galaxy did Prime send us out __**here**__? No mech with a shred of sense would be out here./_

Cliffjumper laughed. _/He probably found the tickets I got in five states yesterday for drunk driving... wasn't drunk, obviously. Just really tired.../_

_/Would you get on the right side of the road already?/ _Terabyte snapped. Her patience had run out about an hour ago. _/You're going to make the squishy behind me blow a fuse./_

He laughed again, sending her a picture of him raising his hands in defeat. _/Okay, okay, I'll m-/_

Just then there was a loud crash and a flash of violet light. Her holo-form shattered into shards of glass-like light. Next thing Terabyte knew she was spinning out of control. Too late, the femme transformed to gain her balance, but inertia won over.

Pain shot down her spinal struts as her dorsal plates collided with the barrier. The sound of bending metal filling her audials, though she wasn't sure if it was the steel barrier she'd just crashed into, or her own frame.

Through the pouring rain, she saw that Cliffjumper had reacted quicker, rescuing the woman behind her. Terabyte looked around, frantically trying to see where the shot had come from. She couldn't see a thing.

Getting up painfully, she charged her weapons and walked over to the red warrior, who had transformed and was also searching for the enemy. She grunted as her armor shifted, the badly dented dorsal plates grating together.

"You okay?" Cliffjumper shouted over the rain.

She caught sight of a tall, thin, winged silhouette of a mech. She shot at it blindly, her targeting systems going haywire from the rain and her injury. "I'm fine. I have a visual on the target."

He frowned, still looking. "Where?"

"Two o'clock!" She shouted, dodging a second shot.

The attacker jumped down from his ledge on the mountainside, landing with a crunch of asphalt as the old highway buckled under his weight. Terabyte shivered as a wave of anger hit her, resonating from her old commander.

"Soundwave." The femme whispered weakly. She'd never seen him so angry before.

She and Cliffjumper both opened fire, though their shots seemed to make very little impact on him. The purple Decepticon just kept walking towards them with calm, steady steps.

Cliffjumper charged, sliding down to the ground to sweep his pedes under the mech, to trip him. Soundwave jumped gracefully over the Autobot's attack, landing with a sickening crunch on the red mech's chest-plate.

As if for good measure, her commander shot Cliffjumper in the leg, turning the limb into a twisted mound of melted metal and muscle cables. He tried to stand up, in spite of his mutilated leg as Soundwave drew closer to her. Roaring as his knee gave out under his weight, Cliffjumper crashed to the ground again, this time his optics going dim. He'd slipped into stasis from the pain.

Honestly, she was surprised it wasn't his helm or spark that was a pile of slag right now. But Soundwave's motions were clear. He didn't care about the mech. Cliffjumper wasn't the target, he was just in the way. He didn't care about offlining the mech, because he didn't matter. He was after her.

Terabyte continued firing, her anxiety growing as the red mech fell so quickly to the purple commander's wrath. The femme extended her glowing yellow blade, shoving her fears aside in light of keeping her cool in the midst of battle. Her bio-lights, optics, and dagger reflected off the raindrops around her, giving her an eerie golden aura.

She knew this would happen. It had been almost two orns since she'd defected fully. A little more than that since Megatron thought she defected, due to her protecting Raf when he was in her mind. She'd listened to Prime. She'd trusted them to protect her. It _had_ taken a bit longer than she'd expected for her former commanders to come after her.

But if she lost this battle... she'd be better off dead.

Soundwave flicked his wrists deftly, extending blades from his arms that she didn't even know he had. She'd never thought it seemed his style. Terabyte's own blade twitched.

She didn't charge, that would have just been suicidal. The femme barely noticed that the fat lady had finally stopped screaming. Probably passed out. Agent Fowler would take care of her later. Terabyte waited for the silent mech to get close enough to attack, silently thanking Skyquake for his training.

Five meters and closing... four meters... Now!

Lunging forward, Terabyte swung her blade. Soundwave stepped backwards one step and her dagger cut through the rain uselessly. Her back screamed in protest. Growling lightly she leapt upwards in a feint before rolling between the mech's pedes, mud and grit coating her frame, grinding into her bruised dorsal plates.

Rising swiftly she moved to plunge her dagger into his back. Her dagger cut through air once again, a large, thin-servo'd hand wrapping around her wrist like a vice. Terabyte's gold optics widened and she looked up at Soundwave, shocked.

Either she was moving really sluggishly, or the mech was not only twice her size, but also just as fast, probably faster. She'd hardly even seen him move.

"Traitor." Soundwave said simply, still empathically radiating fury. In that one word, there was more feeling than she'd ever thought a single word could hold. She had been his loyal advisor and right-hand mech for six vorns; she had betrayed him.

Terabyte's optics widened even further. Keeping her mask from dropping in pure, terrified shock was a struggle. Soundwave just spoke. She didn't even know he _could_ talk. She'd made him so furious when she defected... So enraged that he was willing to tell her about it.

He pulled her forward and locked her arms behind her back, pinning them together in one hand. He stood behind her, looming over her, one of his thin, straight, razor-sharp blades slicing through the light proto-plating of her neck, into her exposed protoform.

Vents stilled, Terabyte stood completely submissive in her infuriated former commander's grip. Her armor was plastered to her frame so tightly it hurt. The only movement was the nervous twitching of her finials. Her spark felt like it was going to break through her spark-chamber, it was pulsing so strongly.

Soundwave kept pressing the blade into her neck. Life-En began trickling in a steady stream from the cut. Her frame was beginning to overheat from lack of ventilation, but the little femme didn't dare to move.

Finally she felt a low rumble from the mech's engine. Megatron's voice sounded from him, _"Bring her to me... Alive."_

She felt like if her optics widened anymore they'd fall out of their sockets, or if her armor clamped down any tighter she'd be crushed to a pulp. Yet somehow both did exactly that.

A string of error messages scrolled across her HUD: _Warning: systems overheating. Warning: external pressure exceeding acceptable parameters. Error: abnormal Energon displacement. Error: spark pulse-_

Terabyte ignored the string of useless warnings. Soundwave's message was very clear. If it weren't for Megatron's orders, she'd be dead right now. She shuddered, inadvertently causing the blade to cut deeper.

The torrential rains quickly washed the life-En from the wound, causing more to gush out.

A black mist creeped into the edges of her vision. It was getting harder to focus. She felt Soundwave pick her up roughly by the waist and sling her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. The last thing she saw was the rapidly retreating ground and a strange green light in the dark of night.


	31. The Wrong Side of the Gates

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 31**

**The Wrong Side of the Gate**

_Charred, collapsed, and rusting. This was her home. __**Was**__. The femme's tanks churned. Dead frames of people she knew and people she never met lay strewn in the same positions that they drew their last breaths. No one had cared enough or had the time to bury the dead, even though it had been several vorns._

_Ashes coated the whole city in a blanket the color of death. It was clear that no one had set pede inside the city since the rotation it fell. The spy walked through slowly, Skyquake by her side. In many places, the ground had fallen, as if there had once been a labyrinth below._

_She felt like an empty husk as she walked through the palaces of the dead. All she could think about was how much the Autobots would pay._

_Tripping on a round object, she fell to her knees, just like she had that awful day. A sense of deja vu washed over her as she turned to see what she'd tripped on. A pained gasp forced its way through her lips._

_As she'd feared, she had returned to that horrid place. Skywarp's decapitated helm leered at her. She grabbed Sky's offered hand and let him pull her up. She didn't let go, holding onto it like her only lifeline; she was not far from that frightened youngling that had limped out of here three vorns ago, the memories all still fresh in her mind._

_The spy looked down at the ashy helm. A frantic desperation overwhelmed her and she let go of Skyquake's hand and ran without explanation towards the pile of rubble that had held her apartment. Desperately she dug through the remains, oblivious to the life-En beginning to leak from her hands and servos as she scrabbled at the rusted chunks of building, mixed with glass._

_She dug and dug, for an amount of time she could never remember. Skyquake and even Dreadwing's pleas for her to stop went unheard and unheeded._

_Finally with a sob, she found what she was searching for. Her parents' frames. Bullwing's lifeless hands were still tightly wrapped around Tetrastar. _

_"Help me!" She shouted through her tears, "Help me get them out!"_

_Surprisingly both mechs hurried forward to aid her without question. After another groon, they had dug the two rusting frames from the rubble and carried them to a flat place. The spy silently grieved as she worked alone to dig a grave for them. The sun set as she worked, casting a dreary shadow over the city._

_The sun had risen and fallen again, but she paid little attention to that._

_She still sat on her knees, a pool of coolant around her pedes. In front of the small, broken femme stood a simple steel chunk of wall, crudely carved into a half oval. Carefully, painstakingly engraved into its surface were the words:_

_Bullwing and Tetrastar, Creators of Terabyte_

_"Ages come, and ages go,_

_On and on an endless flow,_

_Battles raging, vict'ries won,_

_Have no effects,_

_In sweet Protihex..._

_Ages come and ages go,_

_Sparks of loved ones, sparks of kin,_

_Never lost, they live within_

_Each of our sparks!"_

_The little femme hummed quietly to herself, rocking side to side with the gentle tune of the lullaby. She sat alone in the silence. Skyquake and Dreadwing had reluctantly left her in peace so they could complete the mission. They would meet her back here in a rotation or two. _

_She looked up at the sky fiercely. "I will avenge Protihex. This I vow."_

Soundwave stood impassively in front of the cell's glowing Energon bars. Behind them, on a cold steel berth, lay a tiny, Protihexian femme. Her Prussian blue and black frame sparkled in the dim, rhythmically fluctuating light of her bio-lights. He had seen to her repairs personally.

Her recharge was broken with low whines and whimpers. Her servos scratched mindlessly at her spark.

She was still a youngling when she first came into his department. He hadn't expected much of her. Just another droning mind, another computer to sort his files. But her skill had impressed him. Even then, she had the processor for his higher level math and coding.

His routine of scanning new mechs' processors was far less routine with her. Her youngling mind had built around itself the most powerful firewalls Soundwave had ever encountered in the untrained mind; she was oblivious to her own abilities.

All Megatron saw in her was her rage. His leader wanted to mould her into a killing machine, because of the depth of her fury. But Soundwave knew that such a fate would break the femme. She had such potential, but she was not a war-mech. He could not allow his leader to shatter such potential.

When the battles became too much for her, it was easy to convince Megatron to give her to him. Megatron thought she was weak, but Soundwave knew better.

Because his leader gave up on her, Soundwave was able to tune her mind, focus her abilities, shape her into a masterpiece. Terabyte of course, never learned her own potential. To this very day, she never knew how much she had helped the Decepticons.

She was his masterpiece.

But she allowed the enemy to corrupt her. They had tarnished his masterpiece. Their attempts to steal his work would inevitably fail. He would fix her. She would be his masterpiece again.

He had miscalculated when he sent her on that mission. There had been unforeseeable variables that had not factored in. The return of Skyquake shattered her defenses. The Autobots repaired him, and the corruption set in. But he would fix her, and he would make sure she could never betray him again.

Systems silently whirring to life, Terabyte lay on the berth, keeping her optics offline, not showing any signs of being awake.

Someone was watching her.

She could feel their gaze boring into her. Carefully she extended her electromagnetic field outwards, hoping to recognize the field of whoever was watching. Most mechs didn't have any control over their own EM field, and wouldn't notice the light touch of hers.

Stretching her field until it gently brushed against three different fields, the femme took little time to recognize them. Two were Vehicons, their fields withdrawn and pressed to their frames: they were afraid. Of what? She expanded a little further.

Terabyte quickly pulled back, recognizing the stiff, powerful EM field of her commander. She laid in the berth, trying to still her fluttering spark while continuing the charade of recharge.

Megatron's voice boomed through the silence, "Rise soldier. You cannot fool me."

She onlined her optics and sat up obediently, watching Soundwave warily. Her armor was flared to its normal, defensive position. The blue Energon bars between them crackled quietly.

Terabyte thought about all the times she'd been sent here to hack various Autobots for information. There had been few able to put up any sort of resistance. There had only been two that she hadn't been able to hack: Jazz and Perceptor.

Neither had fought back, they'd just protected their intel and tried to convince her she was on the wrong side. She never paid heed to their arguments.

That had annoyed her, that she couldn't hack them. So she'd studied her memories of those two mechs' firewalls until she found the weaknesses she'd missed. A few clever aspects were integrated into her own firewalls. She was confident that she would be able to hack them now.

But now she was on the wrong side of the gate as it were. She was the one to be interrogated, no doubt by Soundwave himself if his presence was anything to go by.

Suddenly Terabyte's hand flew to her neck as she remembered the battle last night. The wound she was expecting to find was nonexistent. Quickly she glanced down at her frame. Each golden joint was shiny and clean, freshly oiled. Dents and scrapes had been smoothed out and painted over. Nothing was left to betray the previous night. It was almost like a dream.

She looked at Soundwave inquisitively. He ignored her, flicking a hand at the guard. With a loud crack and a fizzle, the energy bars dissipated. The silent purple mech looked directly at her before walking slowly away.

Terabyte stood straight and tall as she walked past the guard. He snickered. "Hi, Terabyte. Happy death day!"

The spy glanced at him coolly. "Hello Haywire."

She moved on, following Soundwave quietly, keeping her helm high as various mechs either jeered at her or shrank away in fear.

Terabyte smiled wryly under her mask. This must have been how it felt when prisoners were escorted to the plaza for public execution. Helm raised high, spark pulse rapid, fear and anxiety stuffed behind a wall of pride. She'd never imagined that she'd find herself in this position… at least not in Decepticon territory.

She offlined her optics as she walked, not wanting to see their jeering faces. Her finials swiveled constantly, twitching nervously as she heard their hateful words. Traitor, dead-mech walking... many were cheering on the fate of a higher-up.

Somehow though, Terabyte was pretty sure they weren't going to off her... yet. They wouldn't have repaired her right before her execution. Such waste of resources would be unthinkable.

That's what scared her.

The femme didn't have a clue what they were going to do to her. She also knew that Soundwave knew that not knowing would be torture to her. Normally, when a prisoner was repaired, it only meant that Megatron wished to prolong their agony and would continue to torture them within an inch of their lives and then repair them just enough to survive the next session.

Finally they reached the med-bay, where Megatron and Knockout were waiting for them. Soundwave silently stepped aside, leaving her face to face with Megatron. She stood stiffly in front of him. Her armor remained flared to its usual position, if not slightly more so.

"Lord Megatron." She said neutrally, looking up at the large mech, her optics cold.

He inclined his helm slightly. "It seems the Autobots have not completely stripped you of sense."

"With all due respect sir," Terabyte continued evenly, her tone betraying very little. "Shall we get to the point?"

The silver warlord snarled, blood red optics glaring down at the femme who stood proud and tall – as tall as someone who only reached his midriff could stand.

"Indeed. You're mission has been... cancelled, Lieutenant Terabyte. The troops will be informed of the nature of your mission. You performed your duties admirably, and you have been recalled for a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, to continue your duties as second in command of your department. Return to your post, soldier."

Terabyte laughed humorlessly. She glanced at Soundwave and Knockout before regarding the warlord. Her mask was still up, but it was obvious to everyone that she was grinning like they were all two-bit fools.

"You really expect me to just come back like a good soldier, _sir_?" She shook her helm incredulously, her tone mocking.

"Well, _actually_..." Knockout started arrogantly, checking the polish on his servos.

"Be silent, Knockout." Megatron interrupted impatiently, sounding like he was very tired of saying that. His voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper. "You had such potential... Such beautiful rage..."

The warlord tilted her chin up with one clawed servo, so much that Terabyte felt her neck cables straining. "Your skill fueled by pure, murderous _rage_... It would be such a shame to see that wasted. After all, you _do_ want to avenge Protihex, don't you? Why would you join the killers of your parents?"

The spy's faceplates went tight, her optics widened slightly. She hadn't told anyone other than Skyquake and Makeshift. She supposed that was another thing Makeshift had lied to her about. Not surprising really. But that didn't change that it hurt.

Her engine let out a low growl as she jerked her helm from Megatron's grip. His clawed servo scratched her mask with a harsh screech as she pulled away. "Why would I stay with the mechs who've lied to me for a decavorn? Sire always told me that when the only choices are bad, go with the lesser evil."

Megatron snarled, "Your sire was a weak, cowardly fool." He waved a hand at the medic, who was busily buffing his servos.

"Let it never be said that the Lord Protector is without mercy..." The warlord grinned cruelly, sending a shiver down her struts. "I will forgive your disrespect and graciously allow you to reenter Decepticon ranks with no demotion... whether you _like_ it or not!"

Knockout smirked at her, roughly shoving her onto one of the medical berths, magnetizing the berth and strapping her down with steel clamps for good measure.

"I've never been too good at brain games..." He explained casually, unclasping the panel on the back of her neck covering the data port. "But I'll let Soundwave start his part first. To keep your mind, ah, occupied."

She frowned, not quite understanding what he was talking about. A thick cord was slammed into the data port. Terabyte gasped as her frame jerked spasmodically. Her firewalls instantly slipped into defense-mode as a foreign mind seemed to trickle into hers.

All awareness of the outside world melted and her thoughts were all turned inward. Soundwave's mind was crushing the thick, constantly fluctuating walls around her own mind. Layer upon layer of the thick boundaries of encryptions and defense felt the pressure of his attacks.

Already several layers had shattered under Soundwave's skill. Each time a layer broke, pain flooded her mind.

Terabyte shrieked and let loose her own counterattack, hacking her attacker's own heavily shielded mind. Being a cortical psychic patch, she was able to attack his mind just as easily as he could hers.

Her processors spun at full capacity as she searched and found the rare weaknesses in Soundwave's firewalls. Coding errors were out of the question, but his complex barriers had slight patterns, patterns only the trained mind could see.

At the same time, the femme was struggling to maintain her own defenses, frantically adding variations as she tried to ignore the continuing pain as layers fell. She noted with satisfaction that her attacks were not unsuccessful, and Soundwave's firewalls were shattering, though not nearly so fast as her own.

Just in case she failed, Terabyte deleted all the information she had on the Autobot base and its location. Only she was able to delete files in her own mind; that was one of the very few things that not even Soundwave could overwrite. She wouldn't betray them. If she survived until they came for her, then they could take her back to base. If they came for her...

Waves of contentment, lethargy, and security were coming from the empathic mech's mind as he tried to offset her focus, tried to lull her into a passive state of mind. But Terabyte wouldn't allow herself to stop fighting. She in turn put together a simple string of code which she added to every layer of her remaining defenses. It would simultaneously protect her from being affected by the waves, while bouncing them back at him.

In spite of her making it more difficult and in spite of her hacking his defenses, Terabyte felt a sliver of smug satisfaction and approval from Soundwave. She ignored it and continued her barrage with more vigor.

Terabyte felt all of her non-vital systems shut down, boosting processor power to maximum. Her engine growled in annoyance.

This wasn't working. She needed to break his walls before he broke hers, but her own walls were falling far too fast. She wouldn't be able to finish tearing them-

Realization struck her and she changed tactics quickly. A grin crept its way onto her masked faceplates. She didn't need to break his defenses... She just needed to get past them.

When infiltrating a fort, every spy knows that it's far easier to make a small gap through which to enter. No agent worth their polish would try to break down the whole fort. That was another mech's job.

With this in mind, her hacking got exponentially faster and in moments she was – metaphorically speaking – standing in Soundwave's mind. She stared forward into the vast expanse of uncharted territory. Perhaps this was what the humans' 'Armstrong' had felt when he landed on the moon.

A brief moment, less than a fraction of an astrosecond, passed in which Terabyte hesitated in awe of what she'd just accomplished and what lie ahead of her.

But that was all Soundwave needed.

Her helm seemed to implode and shatter as the last shreds of defense were fragmented and scattered through her mind. Soundwave's consciousness flooded into her processors all at once, the suddenness wreaking havoc through her processors.

Every neural pathway in her helm seemed to light on fire as the mech delved into every file in her mind, tossing them aside like crumpled scraps of paper, completely fragmented her mind beyond what she was capable of ever repairing.

She heard herself scream as her former commander scrambled her mind. She felt him reach into her core programming, changing and altering it to fit his purpose, but she was helpless to defend herself. It also felt as though there were hands in her spark chamber, doing who knew what.

She couldn't tell the difference between what was in her helm and what was reality.

Terabyte wouldn't have noticed when Soundwave had finished reprogramming her, for that was what he was doing. No, the small femme capable of hacking Soundwave – once anyway – wouldn't have noticed.

If it weren't for the brief warning her processors gave her saying: _Modifications completed. Reboot systems to integrate changes?_

Before her disjointed mind could process the request, Soundwave had confirmed it and exited her mind. Terabyte felt every system in her body go offline one by one until blackness enveloped her.

**Meanwhile: Omega Outpost 1**

Skyquake paced outside of the med-bay, armor flared in agitation. The other Autobots were giving him a wide berth, all watching his every move. Arcee kept shooting worried glances into the med-bay, where Cliffjumper lay in stasis, Ratchet busily painting the mech's new pede.

The other one had been irreparably damaged from the knee down, so he'd had to replace the mech's lower pede. Luckily, spare parts to replace the limb had been available, so the only thing Cliffjumper would have to do was reintegrate it, which would only take a day or so.

When Terabyte and Cliffjumper hadn't checked back in, they'd sent a rescue team. The red mech was found unconscious in a puddle of rain and his own life-En. Terabyte had been nowhere to be found.

This was day five of his vigil outside the med-bay, and this was the day Cliffjumper was to be released from medical custody. Skyquake's engine growled deeply. If he didn't find out what that mech had done to her...

Ratchet would be busy welding shiny red parts back together for a _very_ long time.

Finally Cliffjumper limped out of the med-bay, wobbling slightly on the newly attached pede.

Skyquake stomped towards the mech, not particularly caring that Cliffjumper was still recovering from the battle. He didn't care that Cliffjumper now had a new pede to figure out. He did however, care that Cliffjumper hadn't returned with Terabyte.

The massive jet loomed over the red warrior, grabbing him around the neck and slamming him roughly against the concrete wall. Glaring into Cliffjumper's sky blue optics, Skyquake snarled, "Where. Is. She?"

The mech hung loosely in his grip, glaring back at him. "I might tell you if you asked nicely."

The jet slammed him into the wall again, ignoring the voices around them, yelling at him to stand down. He ignored the hands pulling him away; he didn't let go, simply jerking his shoulders just enough to dislodge them.

"I might _kill_ you if you don't tell me what you did to her." Skyquake sneered, tightening his grip and feeling the armor of Cliffjumper's neck buckle, pressing down on the vital Energon line that powered his processors. "I don't think you're in a very good position to be laying down demands at the moment."

Skyquake's wing twitched slightly as he felt Arcee's blaster point press against his helm. "Put him down, _now_."

His jaw clenched in annoyance. This wasn't her fight! He grinned savagely, never turning his gaze from Cliffjumper's optics. "I see... that's how you've stayed alive in this war. You let your little femme fight your battles for you. Typical."

The mech under his hand growled, his voice filled with static as his vocalizer was also being crushed under the jet's grip. "Prime, Arcee, back off. I got this under control."

"You're getting _strangled_!" Arcee shouted, not moving her gun, "How is that 'under control'?"

"You trust me?" Cliffjumper asked tightly. "I got this."

The blaster powered down and Skyquake felt her back away reluctantly. He snarled, squeezing the mech's neck even harder in his worried anger, "Now. I ask again: where is she?"

The mech's red hands reached up and scratched frantically at his throat, squeaking out, "Can't... talk."

Heaving an impatient sigh, Skyquake dropped the mech like a limp rag. Crumpling to the floor, and massaging his slightly crushed vocalizer, Cliffjumper shot a dark glare at Skyquake.

"There." The jet spat, unsympathetic to the Autobot's injuries. "Talk."

"Soundwave. Took her to the Nemesis." Cliffjumper croaked. "Couldn't stop him."

Skyquake roared and kicked the wall sharply, inches from Cliffjumper's face. He turned around, afraid to look at the red warrior, lest he lose what little control his worry had left him. Terabyte wouldn't want him to kill Cliffjumper. It wasn't even the mech's fault really.

"Do you have. Any. _Idea_." He ground out, furiously, "What they'll do to her?!" Skyquake growled. "We have to get her back."

**Some Unknown Time Later...**

_Defrag progress at 100%... External aid departed._

Terabyte stirred slightly. A finial twitched. Her systems whirred lazily to life and she onlined one red optic.

The world above her was... fluffy! Her processors informed her cheerily. And pink! No... wait. Her other optic onlined, clearing things up a little.

The world above her was shiny, her processors reevaluated. And very red... And mechly. Like a face.

The femme groaned and shuttered her optics quickly. Her helm throbbed painfully.

"Rise and shine, sweetspark!" Knockout sang, far too loudly for her health.

She held her optics tightly shuttered, reaching up to massage her temples. Making sure her mask was up, which it thankfully was, Terabyte sat up slowly, opening her optics again.

"What happened?" The spy asked blearily. The last thing she remembered, she had been on a deep cover mission in Autobot ranks...

The red mech shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, you know, this and that. Nothing you won't remember in time, darling."

"Don't call me that." She muttered, running a self-diagnostic. Everything seemed in order.

A few memories slid into place. There had been a battle. Cliffjumper had discovered that she was a spy. He tried to kill her, but Soundwave rescued her. She'd hit her helm in the fray, but she'd been repaired and promoted, her mission ended. Then Megatron had dismissed her.

Terabyte looked down at her pedes and frowned. The blue parts of her armor seemed darker. No longer Prussian blue, it was now only a few shades short of being black. Midnight blue. Her bio-lights were different too. Red bio-lights... Had they always been red? No. They were yellow. She liked the yellow better.

"Why are my optics and bio-lights red?" She asked suspiciously.

"You don't remember?" Knockout asked, soundly mildly concerned, though mostly just curious. "That's what you came in here for in the first place. That helm injury the other day must still be affecting you."

"Why would I do that?"

He shrugged again, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Don't look at me. I just followed orders." His optics picked up a mischievous glint, "Not that I'd blame you if you want to look at me... we both know I'm gorgeous."

Terabyte rolled her optics disgustedly, muttering, "Narcissistic rust-bucket. Why did I say I wanted them changed?"

He glared at her. "Since you were so polite about it... You said something about wanting to separate yourself from the past. What with Flyboy _terminating_ and all."

Skyquake had terminated? The world seemed to shatter around her like glass. Why hadn't she remembered that?

The battle replayed in her mind. Bumblebee tearing out clumps of circuitry. Herself bent over his frame. Protecting him from the Prime. Ratchet refusing to fix him. Her voice wavered, "W-when?"

"I don't know, you're the one who sent in the report." Knockout snapped irritatedly. "I have more important things to do than get interrogated by an amnesiac femme with less manners than a glitchmouse."

"Like what?" Terabyte countered in annoyance. "Buffing your nose?"

She stormed out angrily, heading towards her quarters. Out of habit, the femme passed by the door that would have been to Skyquake's quarters, laying a hand on it as had become her habit since they left Cybertron. She looked at it sadly, a drop of coolant falling from her optics, now the color of fire.

Terabyte shook her helm firmly. She didn't have time to mourn. She could mourn after the War. If she let herself dwell on the matter, she wasn't sure she'd be able to bring herself back out. No, she couldn't let herself think about her grief, lest it overwhelm her.

She could only think about revenge.

Stomping into her quarters, Terabyte glared at her reflection in the small mirror on the far wall. She had always preferred the spiked Decepticon insignia. She focused on her newly altered bio-lights. The red was fitting. It made her think of rage.

The Autobots had now taken everything worth living for. First her home and family, then her friends and planet. But they had made a big mistake when they took Skyquake. One of the last mistakes they would ever make.

They had taken her anchor.

**Next Day**

Megatron stood on the upper deck of the Nemesis, gazing out over the edge, watching the Earth below them. Pathetic flesh bags milled about their own useless lives, scurrying about in their little cities as if whether or not they ate at 'McDonald's' or 'Burger King' was a matter of life or death.

This planet contained so much riches, vast expanses of wealth and power just beneath its muddy surface, and the inhabitants didn't have a clue. He closed his optics. He would build a new Cybertron on this world; a single step in his journey of conquest.

But Optimus and his team of misfits were getting in the way of his plans. And somehow the army of idiots under his command couldn't figure out how to offline five Autobots. Or even the puny flesh bag sparklings they carried around.

"Soundwave." Megatron acknowledged, his musings interrupted, "What is the femme's condition?"

"All is prepared." A recording of Shockwave's voice replied coldly.

The warlord hummed thoughtfully. He had ordered that she be reprogrammed in such a way as to make her totally loyal to himself and his cause. His silent soldier had a disturbing attachment, or more accurately: possessiveness, for the femme.

"How much did you alter?"

The communications and intelligence commander hesitated for a while, gazing out at the clouds. Finally he settled for a recording of Knockout from his security feeds. "Oh, you know, this and that..."

... Terabyte's voice, bleary and confused, "What happened?" ... "Expect me to come back... I will stay..."

Megatron nodded. "Her true memories suppressed and replaced? And all predetermined failsafes installed?"

Soundwave nodded an affirmative.

The silver mech held his hands behind his back, a smirk on his lip-plates. "Excellent." He turned to face Soundwave, the smirk twisting into a snarl. "Bring her to me, with Starscream. I wish to test her loyalty... and pay a few bills that are long overdue..."

"Bring her to me... I wish to test her loyalty..."

Terabyte watched her commander with a calculating gaze. She turned away from her terminal where she was enhancing scanner capabilities. "Yes sir. Will there be Autobots present?"

An indigo cursive x appeared on his visor for a moment. Then he turned and walked back into his office to work. Anyone else would have been insulted by this. But as his second, she was pretty well used to her silent commander's many quirks. And his frustrating habit of walking out mid-conversation.

She walked quickly to the upper levels, ordering a few idle Vehicons back to their respective departments. Arriving on the roof, she glanced around, quickly spotting the tall figure of the Lord Protector.

The lieutenant marched up smartly to the warlord and the air commander. She stood stiffly to attention.

"My lord." She paused, tacking on the respectful side note, "Starscream."

The Seeker made an offended noise, but was quickly silenced by a withering glare from Megatron. "We will go by bridge." He motioned to the Vehicon in charge of the ground bridge.

Terabyte scowled momentarily at the swirling green portal. She didn't remember the Decepticons having a ground bridge. It must have been constructed during her absence. She had sent Ratchet's bridge schematics in her second report. The Decepticon trio stepped through the bridge, into a valley between an abandoned mine entrance and a lush green forest.

Megatron calmly led them towards the entrance, the spy following at a respectful, but close distance behind and to his left. To his right, Starscream struggled to keep up, his poise anxious.

"Uh..." The air commander chuckled nervously, "far be it from me to question your intentions, but I do not understand why we've returned here after all this time..." He looked around as if considering escape, chuckling again, "Alone."

The warlord simply kept walking, bringing a slight smirk to her hidden faceplates. Starscream lagged behind as they entered the cave.

Peeking in after them, the spindly seeker called after them more insistently, "Every last trace of Energon was extracted from this mine..." He sounded like he was trying to persuade his leader. "There's nothing left."

Not for the first time, Terabyte wondered why she had been brought with them. Of course, she didn't dare ask Megatron, lest his patience run out. The warlord's apparent patience with Starscream amazed her.

Finally the Lord Protector turned around, his voice rumbling through the caves, "Indulge me, Starscream, won't you?"

The air commander's engine made a strangled sort of squeak and he scampered forward. Wringing his hands, he muttered, "Eh heh... Yes..."

As they walked in continuing silence, the only sound to be heard was that of their own echoing pede-falls, and the occasional clatter of a displaced pebble. After a breem, Terabyte cautiously broke the silence.

"My lord, if I may," She started, immediately cutting herself off as the tunnel they were following met into a large chamber.

Three large, Decepticon mining drills were parked haphazardly along the walls of the massive chamber. Terabyte attempted to run a scan, but something in the mine's composition was interfering with her systems. Sensing the tension between her leader and his second, the spy kept her distance, opting for observation only.

Megatron cocked his helm slightly, his voice level. "How intriguing."

"Oh!" Starscream jumped nervously, before cringing away from the warlord momentarily. Seconds later he straightened up, wings flared indignantly, stomping forward and flinging his hands up angrily, "Agh! Incompetent fools! This mining equipment should have been relocated."

"Why is it still here?!" Starscream exclaimed, no doubt not intending for his act to be so translucent. He would be awful in her department. And probably dead.

"A most valid question." Megatron said flatly, sounding as equally unimpressed as she was.

Starscream pulled in a harsh intake before spinning around and stumbling over himself and a hasty excuse. "My apologies, master..." And enter youngling-ish servo pointing, Terabyte thought with a wry smirk. "I believe _Soundwave_ was in charge of, eh, coordinating transport."

The warlord's considerably large engine growled, the low sound echoing in the cavern. Starscream's engine let out a tiny whimper, before he spluttered, "B-but in all fairness, during your interstellar travels, we _all_ had to assume additional responsibilities, am I right, Terabyte?"

She gave him a flat stare, cocking one optic ridge slightly. Terabyte grinned behind her mask, quite enjoying the air commander's struggles. After all, entertainment was hard to come by in war. Dryly, she replied, "That's 'Lieutenant Commander' Terabyte to you. Sir."

Starscream chuckled weakly, easily translating her obvious refusal of any assistance. "Eh heh... Clearly, mistakes were made..."

Megatron hummed in agreement, the white ring in his red optics brightening as he got angrier. "Yes..." Terabyte jumped back slightly as the silver mech plunged his fist into the wall next to him, pulling out a large clump of raw Energon. "Clearly."

The Seeker gasped loudly, already stepping back quickly, hands halfway raised to his face in defense. The warlord snarled, crushing the crystals underpede. "Every last trace of Energon extracted?!"

"L-lord Megatron! I-I can explain!" His pale red optics were wide with fear as the air commander continued to back away from the enraged warlord approaching.

Terabyte pitied the Seeker, but was not inclined to vainly sacrifice her own life in an attempt to save the rude, whiny mech. She had nothing against Starscream, nothing personal. She just needed to live long enough to avenge her home, her family, and Skyquake.

"Explain what?" Megatron asked furiously. "That you've been hoarding a supply of Energon for your own personal use?!"

"No!" Starscream wailed instantly. Then he amended, "Not exactly... you see I-"

"Do not take me for a fool, Starscream!" Megatron roared, bending down to look the Seeker in the optics.

"I- b-b-but- not-!" He sputtered, armor tight to his frame.

The warlord ignored him, still stalking towards him, "I have been wise to your transgressions from the beginning." He tilted his helm back, one massive, clawed hand reached towards his spark. "Not only did you pluck the Dark Energon from my chest in a _failed_ attempt to extinguish my spark," Megatron swung fist to the side, just inches from Starscream's face, "But you tried to raise your own undead warriors with it!"

The spy frowned, tilting her helm. She didn't remember that happening while she was with the Autobots... Knowing Starscream, it was probably such a failure that it never got out of Decepticon gossip loops.

"It's no secret you lost an arm in the attempt, which you've since had replaced."

"You _knew_ about that?" Starscream asked incredulously, pausing in his retreat.

She could only see the warlord's back, but she heard the sadistic grin in his voice. "Soundwave is _quite_ competent in surveillance, I can assure you."

He straightened up, no longer advancing as he was now in the center of the chamber. He looked around at the cavern walls, speaking as if to an old friend, "The fact is, Starscream, despite your treachery, I've allowed you to carry on so long because I took a certain delight in following your failures."

Taking a few steps into the cavern, Terabyte bit down a laugh. So the common ranks were not the only ones who found amusement in Starscream's grabs for power. To Megatron, the Seeker's plots must compare to a mere annoyance. A pest.

"But you've finally become tiresome..." Megatron sighed heavily; his cannon – which was nearly five times the size of her own – began to hum quietly. "Predictable."

"Frankly," He leveled the charged cannon on Starscream's helm, the point of it centimeters from his face. "You've hit rock bottom."

Bathed in the purple glow, the Seeker's pedes gave out and he fell to his knees, hands clasped together as he pleaded for his life. "M-master, please! Give me one more chance!" He whimpered and his expression turned desperate, "I _beg_ of you! Have mercy!"

"You have ceased to be of use to me, Starscream." Megatron said coldly. His cannon whined as power built up, "Thus you shall simply cease to be..."

He powered down the cannon and lowered it slowly, bringing a glimmer of relieved hope to the Seeker's optics.

"Terabyte, come."

Optics widening slightly, the femme did as commanded, standing stiffly beside the warlord. "My lord."

He grinned at her, revealing his sharp, pointed denta. The silver mech took a step backwards, wrapping his hands behind his back. "Normally I would _relish_ snuffing your pathetic existence, Starscream... however, Lieutenant, would you do the honors?"

She gasped, her armor shrinking slightly towards her frame. Making sure her audials hadn't malfunctioned, she whispered, "You wish for me to slay my commanding officer, second in command of the entire Decepticon army, my lord?"

His optics held an amused light. Megatron seemed to find her shock entertaining. "Yes."

"Is this a test of my loyalties, Lord Megatron?" Terabyte asked, charging her cannon and leveling it on Starscream's helm.

"Yes." He said, patience wearing thin, "I'm not getting any younger, Lieutenant..."

She bit her glossa. But seeing the red glow of her cannon, Terabyte's spark turned cold. It was nothing personal. She just needed to stay on her leader's good side. She needed to have more power in order to succeed in her goals. With Starscream out of the way, Soundwave would rise to take his place, leaving her as head of the CI department. The power one has in that position... would greatly further her goal.

It wasn't as if being weak had saved Skyquake. Her morals hadn't helped her save him. So why bother? Her logic processors asked coldly. Without Skyquake nothing mattered. Avenge the fallen.

"It is nothing personal, Starscream. But I have a duty to fulfil." She said plainly.

Starscream whimpered pitifully, "Wait! Would you kill a childhood friend in cold Energon?"

She blinked, her aim never wavering. "As if you've ever thought about me since that day. You didn't even realize who I was until I told you, and you didn't care." She glanced at her whining cannon. "It really has very little to do with you at all."

"However..." She continued slowly, frowning. Starscream glanced nervously at her cannon, which was beginning to overheat. "My lord, with all due respect, what is there to gain from his death?"

"Spare parts." Megatron snarled, as if that were enough. "Are you questioning my orders, Lieutenant?"

"No sir," Terabyte replied, "But-"

"You will obey your master!" Megatron roared, pointing a servo at Starscream. "Kill him."

Something in the back of her processors seemed to activate at the warlord's first sentence, sending a jolt through her frame. Her helm twitched to the side as Soundwave's failsafe came to life, putting her memories of the last five minutes along with the other suppressed memories.

She straightened, slightly confused. Why was he so angry? She already said she'd do it. Her response was firm, her spark cold to Starscream's pleas. "Yes, my lord."

Avenge the fallen, she thought, icy fury burning through her. One step at a time, she would avenge them.

She pulled the trigger.


	32. Fractures

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 32**

**Stuff**

_/Please, prettypleasewithcoppersauce, getouttamyhelm!/ Blurr whined at high speed into her helm as she shattered his scatterbrained firewalls. /GoodCon, beautifulCon, prettyprettynicemercifulCon!/_

_She really didn't like this part of her job... The femme growled, her frustration spiking outwards through the blue hovercraft's processors forcing a pained whimper from the mech. _

_/Ow! Okayokay, flattery'snotworkingnotworkingatall! Getoutgetoutgetout!/ He threw his mind at her, pounding on her presence with all that he had. The effort was primarily pointless, reminding her of a youngling throwing a fit, but nonetheless the mental pressure was less than pleasant._

_The spy grunted, a scowl touching her face as a killer helmache began to set in. Finally she punched him hard in the mental and physical faceplates, effectively silencing his mental and verbal ramblings. _

_The mental barrage ended and she had to stifle a sigh. Silence. Beautiful, uninterrupted-_

_/Owwyowwyowwyowww! Whatwasthatfor? IthoughtyouhackyConslikeachallenge!/_

_/Shut up!/ The spy roared, her patience with the mech running out incredibly fast. /I do __**not**__ want to hurt you, in fact, if you would just be quiet and stop struggling; I'll do this as gently as possible! But so help me, you will be quiet one way or the other!/_

_The fast forwarded mech took hardly an astrosecond to process this before the barrage started all over again with more vigor. /I'llstopstrugglingwhenI'mintheWell! YouevilmindhackingDecepti-creep! I'dratherdiethanbetrayOptimusandmyteam! Iwonteverletyou-you-oo.../_

_She sighed deeply, savoring the peaceful quiet at last. She always offered her prisoners the easy way or the hard way. Most chose the hard way. But once the firewalls were down, it was a – usually – simple matter of disabling the higher cognitive functions and voila! Her job was all but over. Gathering the desired files was youngling's play from then on._

_The Prussian blue and black two-wheeler frowned in concentration, trying to keep her thoughts focused. She'd always hated hacking the prisoners. She justified her actions by the cause. It was for the furthering and betterment of the Cybertronian people. A far more merciful method than physical interrogation techniques._

_/I told you.../ She thought quietly to the inert Autobot mech. /I do not want to hurt you... I'm doing this for your own good. For all of us. For Cybertron./_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"Soundwave. Took her to the Nemesis." Cliffjumper croaked. "Couldn't stop him."**

**"What happened?" The spy asked blearily. The last thing she remembered, she had been on a deep cover mission in Autobot ranks...**

**She gasped, her armor shrinking slightly towards her frame. Making sure her audials hadn't malfunctioned, she whispered, "You wish for me to slay my commanding officer, second in command of the entire Decepticon army, my lord?"**

**"It is nothing personal, Starscream. But I have a duty to fulfil." She said plainly... Avenge the fallen, she thought, icy fury burning through her... She pulled the trigger.**

A blaze of agony coursed through her left arm, knocking her aim off target. The rock beside Starscream smoked, the sharp scent of discharged energy and singed metal filling the air around them. Terabyte whirled around, catching sight of the source of the blast. Momentarily caressing her burnt cannon-arm, the spy glared at Cliffjumper, red optics blazing. Her bio-lights brightened until she was almost haloed in the color of fire.

"You would interrupt, Autobot?" She sneered, "It's a pity... I was hoping for the scout."

Behind her, she heard the scream of the air commander's engines as he attempted to retreat. Weapons fire from the other side of the cavern echoed, drowning out Megatron's bellows. Dust clouded the air, but Terabyte was too focused on the red Autobot in front of her. She walked leisurely towards him, planning the kill.

"Arcee, stop shooting! You'll bring the whole mine down!" Cliffjumper yelled towards the commotion on the other side of the chamber.

The spy's midnight navy armor looked nearly black in the dim light. She growled lowly, extending her red dagger with a light flick of her wrist. "Is your life so unimportant to you that you won't even pay attention to your final battle?" Terabyte laughed coldly. "I expected at least a _little_ challenge... wouldn't want it to end too quickly now would we?"

So intent on her target, the two-wheeler hardly noticed the roof beginning to crumble and collapse around her. She was just feet away from him...

He looked directly into her optics, his own blue ones widening. "TB, Look out!"

She glanced around, just now realizing the danger. Her optics widened and she simply stood there, like a deer in the headlights, as a huge boulder fell towards her. Under normal circumstances, this might have bothered her a bit more than did. But Skyquake's death weighed heavy on her spark.

"Sky..." She whispered, offlining her optics calmly, at peace. Perhaps she would see him, and her parents in a few astroseconds... Maybe Smokey'd be there too.

A hand slightly larger than her own slapped her hard across the battle mask. Rubbing the stinging metal, Terabyte onlined her optics, her faceplates instantly sliding into a scowl.

"Tera! Are you alright?" Cliffjumper asked urgently, hanging over her protectively. His frame was radiating heat, having overheated when he dug her out. "C'mon, say something!"

"Call me that again and I'll rip your spark out with my bare hands, Autobot scum." She snarled.

The red mech however, didn't seem to have registered her words, only that she'd spoken. "Oh, thank the Allspark you're okay! Had me worried there."

She shoved the mech aside, rising to her pedes swiftly, examining the surrounding area quickly. They were trapped in a small pocket, approximately eight meters in diameter, and tall enough for Cliffjumper to stand without hitting his helm. The problem was that there was no visible way out. Terabyte shrugged. She'd kill the Autobot and then dig herself out.

"You don't seem to understand your position, Cliffjumper." The spy said flatly. "I never really joined the Autobot cause. Why would I have ever joined the mechs that killed my family, destroyed my home, slaughtered my friends, demolished my planet, and took Sky?"

He frowned, confusion written on his face. "Took your sky? You mean the big guy, Jetbrain?"

Charging her cannon and pressing it into his chest-plate so hard the metal bent, Terabyte hissed at him like a feral creature. "_Yes_. I mean Skyquake... 'the big guy', _'Jetbrain'_. Glad to hear that you respect the dead."

Cliffjumper raised his hands and backed into the wall. "Whoa, slow down, Terabyte... Skyquake's back at base, alive and cheery, helping the doc clean the cargo bays. No dead jets on my watch."

"I was _there_." She spat angrily. Just like an Autobot to lie to her face to save his own sorry hide. She extended her dagger, which had retracted in the cave-in. "Your intricately twisted deceit won't fool me, Cliffjumper. Bumblebee tore out his processors and your _beloved_ medic refused to save him. I watched him fade to gunmetal gray."

"B-but, he's back at base, I swear it!" Cliffjumper said, sounding so sincere. She smirked, rolling her deep red optics; so sincere. "We can get out of here together, I'll take you back to base so you can see for yourself. Just come back with us, Tera..."

Enraged, Terabyte plunged her blade through his shoulder joint, twisting it until the mech cried out in pain. The femme ground each word out, emphasizing each syllable with another jerk of her dagger. "I. _Told_. You. Not. To. _Call_. Me. That!"

A tiny voice in the back of her helm, shrouded in a mist of foreign programming, told her not to kill her brother. If it was possible, her scowl deepened and she ripped the blade from his mangled shoulder. His arm fell limp to his side. Shaking Cliffjumper's life-En off her dagger, Terabyte retracted the weapon.

"Playing along with your 'kindness' act has made me soft it would seem..." She said quietly, her finials flicked back at an annoyed angle. Now the little voice was telling her she should fix him.

Terabyte turned away from the gasping mech, glaring at the jagged cave wall, where Cliffjumper had stacked the rubble that had crushed her.

"Would you be quiet?" She yelled at the wall, "I'm kind of busy trying to kill this guy. He is _not_ my brother!"

"Terabyte..." Cliffjumper said worriedly, his voice slightly strained, "There isn't anyone there..."

She whirled around to face him. "_Obviously_. What? Did you think I've lost it? Yelling at walls?"

He sounded taken aback, "Well... that _is_ what it looked like."

The dark femme gave him a withering look, simmering inwardly. Not bothering to reply, the little spy started heaving boulders and throwing them over to Cliffjumper's pile. The red mech watched her for a few klicks before helping as much as he could with one hand.

Several breems later, both Cybertronians' frames were beginning to overheat, their ventilation systems practically useless since the air was just as hot as they were. It seemed as though they were making no progress, but neither dared to use energy weapons lest they cause their little air pocket to collapse on them.

Terabyte slumped down against the stone wall, across from Cliffjumper. Life-En spluttered from her arm and several places where her armor was so badly dented it had pierced her protoform. The red mech leaned against the wall on his side of the cave, life-En still streaming from his shoulder.

She laughed, a smug grin curving her lip-plates. She poked the shrouded corner of her mind, "See? I listened to you, Voice. I left Cliff alive... but I still win! If we are lucky, he'll leak out before we do."

"_We_?" Cliffjumper asked weakly. "Who's we?"

"Me, myself, and I." Terabyte replied calmly.

In all honesty, the shielded data in her helm bothered her. She always used all of her mind and body to its highest capacity, and not having that accessible was disturbing. Ever since the blocked corner had made itself known, she'd been trying to hack the multilayered encryptions. But they were incredibly advanced, changing every second and reacting to all of her attacks. It seemed that everything she did to destroy it was making it stronger.

She calculated that at her current rate, it would take a few quartex to hack.

"What have they done to you...?" The red Autobot whispered.

Terabyte jumped up, her finials swiveling rapidly. Someone was coming, fast. The ground beneath her vibrated, a loud rumbling noise filling her audials, along with the sound of shattering rock.

She charged up her cannon and her Energon dagger. Terabyte braced herself, ignoring her wounds. The slight vibrating of her mini-cannon sent pain up her arm. Her aim was wobbly.

"Cliffjumper?" A nervous voice shouted as the rock crumbled, revealing one of the Decepticon mining drills. A second voice said, "Guys, careful. There could be more than just Starscream and Megatron." Another voice hollered, "Hellllooo?"

_Hellllooo? Hellllooo? Lllooo?_

The human female's voice echoed. Terabyte hissed at the first human male's voice. She knew it. "_Rafael_. Miko. Jack too, I assume?"

The spiky haired youngling laughed, leaping off the drill quickly, running over towards her. "Tera! You're okay!"

He hugged her pede tightly, smiling up at her. "Why'd you change colors?"

The urge to fling him across the room washed over and she swung her pede back to kick. Her helm twitched to the side and she merely jiggled her pede to knock him off.

"I thought these colors better suited me." She said flatly. Her optics narrowed, and her spark hardened. "After all, you and your metal friends took everything from me. Now that you've made an escape for me... I am going to finish what I started: you may watch or not, it matters little to me."

She charged her cannon and aimed it at Cliffjumper's spark chamber. "This is for my life, which you took."

She fired, her cannon arm wobbled - she passed it off on her injury - and blasted the same leg that Soundwave had destroyed when he rescued her. Terabyte ran through the opening Jack had dug, looking back only to see a pile of melted circuitry where his pede had been.

"I can't seem to keep a leg to stand on..." Cliffjumper muttered, his voice strained.

**A Day Later. Outpost Omega One**

The whole room seemed to explode with noise the minute his optics opened. Anger, disbelief, confusion... he couldn't tell the difference amidst the uproar.

He sat up slowly, his movements awkward. The Autobot frowned minutely. He couldn't feel his left pede. It moved when he wanted it to, with slight lag, but the limb was numb.

Cliffjumper looked down at the pede, to determine what the problem was. The thing that greeted his optics was not his leg.

It was substantially thinner than his pede at the thigh, though it was the right color. That wasn't what bothered him most though. What bothered him was the silver, angular, hollow calf with the wheel disfiguratively suspended in the back, jutting out as if it didn't belong. The foot on the end was triangular and layered, extending the same length backwards as forwards.

"What. In. The. _Galaxy_. Did you do to my leg?" He ground out slowly, trying not to panic.

The arguing Autobots gathered in the med-bay all instantly fell silent, none daring to look him in the optics. Finally Ratchet spoke up in a hoarse whisper, still staring at his own feet.

"It was the best I could do with limited resources. I used the last of our Cybertonium on your leg when Soundwave scrapped it... I had to make do with Terran alloys."

Cliffjumper took a few klicks in the stiff silence to absorb this. "So that's why I can't feel it?"

The medic sighed deeply. "Put simply, yes. I am sorry Cliffjumper."

Arcee, who was standing next to him, clenched her fists tightly. "I _knew_ she couldn't be trusted. Once a Con, always a Con."

Across the room, the sound of crashing metal echoed. Bulkhead had slammed his wrecking ball into the table, crushing it and a couple tools of Ratchet's. "Stinking traitor had us all fooled."

**"We **_**trusted**_** her! And **_**this**_** is how she repays us?" **Bumblebee buzzed vehemently, gesturing to Cliffjumper's new, disfigured pede.

"Autobots!" Optimus said firmly, his flat hands raised in a placating gesture, silencing the increasingly loud murmurings. "We must not jump to conclusions. Cliffjumper, tell us what happened in the mine."

He shifted slightly on the berth, still trying to accept the new reality of his pede. All signs of his usual optimism were wiped from his face. Across the room, Skyquake was scowling at him. Like it was his fault the Cons had messed around in her helm.

"Her armor is almost completely black now. And her optics..." Recalling her blazing red optics, Cliffjumper shuddered, "Her optics are a deeper, angrier red than even Megatron's."

"Raf and I found her with her cannon to Starscream's helm, questioning Megs' reasoning behind offlining the Seeker." The red mech paused, a concerned look touching his faceplates. "Then she shot him. I managed to throw off her aim, then the whole mine started caving in..."

"Megatron." Arcee muttered sourly. "I shot his arm-"

"Multiple times." Jack put in helpfully.

"-and his cannon misfired at the roof-" His partner continued, glaring at Jack.

"Multiple times." The boy concluded, ignoring Arcee's look.

Smiling at the two of them, Cliffjumper went on soberly. "Anyway. We were trapped in the same pocket, and she had been buried in the cave in. I dug her out and soon as she onlined she tried to kill me."

"Naturally, I tried to convince her to come back with us..." His frown deepened. "She told me she never joined us-"

"I knew it!" Arcee hissed, "She was a spy."

"Arcee, would you just shut up with the 'I told you so's? Let me finish." The warrior barked in irritation. "She said she watched us kill Skyquake. And she kept yelling at the walls to be quiet... referring to herself in plural..."

Cliffjumper looked up at Optimus with worried optics, "Prime... Whoever did _this_," he gestured to his new pede, "Whoever did this was not Terabyte. They've done something to her; messed with her mind somehow."

**Meanwhile: Nemesis**

Setting one part of her processor to her assignment of scanning and organizing reports and Terran media, the dark femme checked the crew files.

She remembered having found a new Con during her infiltration mission. A powerful, mostly psychotic triple-changer. If she could find him, he would be an invaluable asset to the cause. Finding him would be a far more efficient use of her time.

Terabyte ran a routine self-diagnostic before syncing with the computer. Her HUD informed her that the tracker she'd placed on him was still active. Whether or not it was still attached to him was another matter entirely.

According to her readout the tracker was in central Russia. Hacking into the government's military radars and accessing all data for the region was youngling's play. She nodded curtly.

Most triple-changers were strange in the helm; the technology had been created by Decepticon scientists in the hopes of strengthening their forces without increasing troops. There was little doubt that the technology had not yet been perfected. Sixshot, Blitzwing, Astrotrain... None of them had their helms screwed on right.

So it was no surprise to the femme when she found multiple live stream broadcasts of panicked reporters as they caught Blitzwing on video. At the moment, he was crouched in the ruins of a museum, playing with statues of human rulers like they were dolls.

Whenever a human vehicle got too close, the mech would change faces momentarily and slap them aside like a pest. Taking a moment to repair and improve the government's security, Terabyte backed out and disconnected from the terminal.

She rose from her seat at her work station and took a moment to stretch her arms over her helm, cracking several strained spinal struts back into alignment. The hydraulics in her pedes hissed as she stepped away from the terminal, protesting their prolonged lack of use. Her optic ridges creased slightly and she checked her chronometer.

"Two joors..." Terabyte muttered quietly to herself.

"Sorry sir?" The Vehicon next to her, Symptom, asked anxiously, his wings twitching.

Glancing at the mech, the comms and intel SIC pursed her masked lip-plates together. "Symptom. Have you located and locked onto the coordinates of Cybertron as assigned?"

A whine came from his engine as he tentatively shook his spiked helm, stuttering, "N-not y-y-yet, Lieut-t-tenant C-commander..."

Her scowl deepened and she growled in frustration. Why did they fear her so much? What had she done? She had been known as the friend of Vehicons. Now they cowered in her presence. The time she'd been controlled by Megatron came to mind, but she had no recollection of his time in her mind. Besides that, Lord Megatron was respected by his troops: not feared.

_'Are you sure about that?' _The strange shrouded voice whispered, echoing through her mind. Terabyte lashed out at the air fiercely, shouting, "Silence!"

Venting heavily, she said to the trembling Vehicon, "It is a simple task, Symptom. Already you have struggled with it for a quarter orn. Perhaps you should consider posting a transfer request."

Impatient, she faced the other drones, staring at the scene. Forcing her voice into a softer tone, Terabyte tilted her helm to the side, "Shall we return to our duties?"

To her surprise, everyone in the room replied in perfect unison, saluting her smartly, "Yes Lieutenant Commander Terabyte, sir!"

An unidentifiable voice in the crowd broke the resounding silence that followed, muttering, "S'long as y'don't go on a psycho slaughterin' spree agin..."

Terabyte spun on her heel and made her exit, bewilderment pressed into her faceplates. Slaughtering spree... A memory flashed across her vision. The mess hall filled with gray frames, sparking limbs, decapitated helms, dead faces of mechs she knew. Life-En dripping from her blade.

Just as quick as it came, she felt a line of dormant code activate, and she frowned.

She felt like she'd just remembered something vitally important. But she couldn't remember what it was that she'd remembered.

The Vehicons were acting rather strange... Maybe she ought to tell Soundwave after she gave her report.

**Three days later.**

Skyquake glared at the little bolt in his hands. As if it would somehow be able to help him get her back. Three small boxes of the bolts lay in front of him, each holding a different size of bolt.

The medic - after ranting about having to hack the Russian government because they couldn't get through their own security - had assigned him _cleanup_. Tidying and organizing the cargo bays. His engine growled in frustration. This wasn't helping find Terabyte. This wasn't helping to figure out why she thought he was dead.

They needed to get her back. But the Autobots didn't seem to think her life was worth cold slag. He closed his fist around the bolt, grinding it into a fine powder. He owed the Autobots nothing.

Standing up, he let the metal dust float towards the floor. Skyquake stormed purposefully towards the bridge room. He didn't need their help.

He was going to get her back, no matter what it took.


	33. Psycho

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 33**

**Psycho**

_She casually pressed the button to call the lift. Letting out a deep sigh, the little femme could think only of her berth. It had been a long day. Her promotion to Major had taken longer than she'd expected, and the worthiness test had been far more taxing than she'd expected._

_After what felt like eons, the light flashed violet and the Cybertanium doors slid apart. Her optics widened slightly at the scene that greeted her._

_His thin silver pedes were spread apart, long talon-like servos resting on his hips._

_"__**Well**__," Starscream spat venomously, his back facing her, "I won't tolerate your 'lessons' any longer! I will have your respect, __**Lord**__ Megatron." Humming mischievously, the silver Seeker's voice seemed to be grinning, "Or else..."_

_"I will have your __**helm**__!" Raising his fists over his own helm, the mech started laughing in a way he no doubt thought sounded evil._

_She cleared her vents loud enough to make her presence known, a bemused expression settled on her masked faceplates. Her smirk grew noticeably at his reaction._

_"Mhuahaha-hack-ack-ack-kk-" He spluttered, turning around slowly, "Ugh... Ahem. Ah..."_

_Stepping into the lift, the newly appointed Major stood stiffly to attention, choosing to act oblivious to what she'd just witnessed. Soundwave would need to be informed of this. _

_"Seventh floor, please. Sir." The femme said calmly._

_Several floors above the desired destination, the two Decepticons stood in an awkward silence. The Air Commander did not allow such peace to last._

_"How much of that did you witness, little femme?" He demanded, wringing his hands nervously._

_"Not enough for harm." Her finials twitched as an idea came to her mind. They still had thirty four floors to go. "Do you know who I am, Scream?"_

_Starscream jumped back slightly, a mournful look came into his optics before his expression grew indignant. "You will address me with due respect, you insignificant __**drone**__! Do you expect __**me**__ to personally know every __**worm**__ in this sector?!"_

_She rolled her gold optics, hands braced on her hips. "Any mech who cannot be bothered to honor his terminated siblings is due no honor himself. Sir."_

_He stared at her like a dying electrofish for a while, his mouth opening and closing mindlessly. There was coolant in his optics, though not a drop escaped. His engine whined almost imperceptibly._

_His expression was so pained. A flash of a guilt shot through her spark, the dark femme knowing exactly how he felt. Surprisingly the Seeker replied quietly, "My brothers perished in Protihex... I told no one..."_

_The mech reached forward and lifted her dainty chin with one clawed servo. His expression was indecipherable. "__**You**__... Who are you?"_

_She tried to jerk away from his grip, but failed. Her engine growled lowly. "Can you not figure it out? I am Terabyte." His faceplates showed no signs of recognition. "Warp was a wonderful uncle for the rotation that I knew him. And TC... he was such a kind, gentle, rule bound mech. I'm so glad Stormsong sent me to check in on you guys."_

_"How do you know what they were like!? You're nothing more than a __**sparkling**__ in over-sized armor!" Starscream roared into her face, his right cheek plate twitching in his fury. "How __**dare**__ you pretend to know them?!"_

_Ever calm in the face of his wrath, the femme said quietly, "Because I did know them." She sighed sadly, "Do you remember the little blue and gold femmeling that visited your room the night before the city fell?"_

_"Yes... Spoiled, naive little brat, if you ask me." He frowned. The Seeker snarled impatiently, "What does __**she**__ have to do with anything?"_

_Her patience at its end, she gave him a flat stare, "I don't know sir. She's right in front of you. Why don't you ask her yourself?"_

_Several breems passed as Starscream stared at her in disbelief, stepping back a few steps to gape at her. Finally the lift beeped loudly for the third time, the doors having opened a while ago. _

_Skyquake was waiting for her, glaring at Starscream. She inclined her helm respectfully, her tone cold. "This is where I get off. Good cycle, sir."_

_By the expression on her large friend's face, she'd have a lot of explaining to do. If she didn't... Starscream would probably end up with an unexpected doctor's visit. Skyquake could get... __**overzealous**__ in protecting her._

He growled, his numb pede moving stiffly like a dead lump of steel. Which, _joy_, it actually was. The strange foot that went both directions made each step incredibly awkward. He didn't get how the doc thought that feature would _help_ with balance. So far it only slowed him down, tripping him when it was forgotten. It was like walking on a claw.

There was a slight limp in his walk, which was annoying him to no end. It felt as though everyone was constantly watching him. Even though it was midnight and everyone was asleep. It felt like the very walls were watching. Waiting for him to fall.

But he wouldn't let them see him fall. He had to be strong. And while they were waiting for him to give up, the Cons were mucking around in Terabyte's helm, making her act on their whims and possibly deleting any thoughts or memories that could sway her brainwashed loyalty.

Cliffjumper rounded a corner with more determination in his step. Autobots don't leave their own. They don't give up on each other. And they certainly don't abandon family.

Looking up with hardened optics, the red warrior saw a flash of green wing and the next thing he knew his dead pede had slipped out of under him, gouging the concrete and landing him hard on his aft.

"We really need to get rid of these corners..." Cliffjumper muttered, his nerves screaming in protest in his dead pede. He wasn't sure how he could feel pain when he couldn't feel anything else in the limb. Finally he got the presence of mind to grin up at whoever it was that he'd bumped.

"Ah, Jetbrain!" Cliffjumper said, still grinning. His lips had gone tight in the forced appearance of cheer. He hadn't slept for far too long because of this mech. "And where would a good Autobot like yourself be going in such a hurry this time of night?"

"It matters not to the likes of you." Skyquake replied, his lips curling into a snarl and his engine growling. He began to walk around the red mech when Cliffjumper called out.

"Hey, big guy! Won't you help a fallen comrade-in-arms?" The red mech's cerulean optics shone bright as he got an idea. "I dare say TB'd be disappointed to see how you treat her favorite Autobot..."

Skyquake unsuccessfully tried to bite back a roar as he crouched down to Cliffjumper's level. "You Autobots know _nothing_ of Terabyte! For all that I care, you can stay there and rust. You don't even care that Megatron is sculpting her into his own weapon, to kill against her will."

Cliffjumper frowned involuntarily, "I can't tell where your loyalties lie, Skyquake."

"My _loyalties_," The jet spat, his ruby optics boring into him, "Have not changed. And no faction will ever hold my loyalty again."

After waiting a few minutes for Cliffjumper to process this and realize its implications, Skyquake continued, "I am going to get her back."

He stared at the green jet as he rose with determination. Attempting to do the same, Cliffjumper lost his balance and fell backwards on one pede, just barely managing to stay standing.

His momentary grimace was replaced with a morbid chuckle. "Fair enough. Shall we then?"

The ex-Con regarded him skeptically for a brief while before a grin of his own split his faceplates. "Perhaps there is hope for you yet, Little Mech."

Cliffjumper made an indignant sound, following behind the jet. "I'm not _that_ little!" When no response came from Skyquake, the red mech grumbled good-naturedly, "Jetbrain."

"I have been a fool. Made mistakes. Monumental ones." Starscream said quietly, gazing at the wall, his back to Soundwave. Soundwave watched him carefully, no doubt recording it all, his back to the door.

Terabyte smirked, repressing a laugh. Talk about understatement of the vorn. The Seeker continued, "I now realize that I was never destined to be a leader." His tone went bitter, "Or even an equal _partner_. And... I am at _peace_ with that."

Sure sounded like it, the femme thought, waiting patiently to be noticed. She was perfectly content to listen to the commander's confession.

"I have gained a true… _understanding_ of my place in this universe." About time too. Only took Lord Megatron nearly killing him on an ornly basis for so many eons. "Of who I am... who I was always _meant_ to be: Starscream... Second in command of the Decepticon army. Loyal, _humble_ servant to Lord Megatron."

Starscream turned around, his expression blank. "Thank you for listeni- Lieutenant Terabyte! How long were you standing there?! Return to your duties at once!"

She sneered at him behind her mask, keeping her tone respectfully neutral and nodding to her commander. "Commander Soundwave, good joor. Commander Starscream... I believe my recent promotion is still valid; as such, you must address me properly, _sir_. To show a good example to the troops."

Soundwave meanwhile was very pointedly staring at Starscream through his visor. He played back a recording of Megatron, "You are not in command here, Starscream... Do not give my troops orders."

The silver mech chuckled awkwardly, "Ah, yes... of course Soundwave. I will take my leave now. Lieutenant Commander, Commander."

Once he had left, Terabyte looked at Soundwave. "Sir... A memory has come to mind, regarding a mech named Blitzwing. I have located him, having placed one of your tracers on him during a battle towards the end of my previous mission."

Soundwave nodded his helm ever-so-slightly, gesturing for her to continue. "He is in the Russian capital, most likely still having a tea party with the ruins of the museum. But the military strength he holds would be invaluable to the cause."

The commander continued to stare blankly. His lack of response was, as per usual, minorly disturbing. She concluded finally, "As your second, I would suggest that we locate him and integrate him into our forces."

He nodded again and replayed the exact footage she had been viewing previously, her finial jutting into the image in the bottom corner. The voice in the shrouded corner of her mind mentioned something about stalkers, but Terabyte ignored it. Soundwave saw all. He was the optics of the army.

She realized that he was looking at her expectantly. The femme frowned, she must have missed something. Usually she didn't miss Soundwave's inferences. "Yes sir?"

A message appeared on her HUD announcing a data transfer. Accepting the packet, she opened it and quickly read through the files. Nodding her helm firmly, Terabyte bowed respectfully and excused herself to begin.

Heading straight for the communications wing, the spy was already planning her mission and sorting out what strategy she would use to approach this. She ought to bring a few Vehicons at least, just in case the triple-changer caused trouble. Or Autobots trying to 'rescue' her again.

She would try talking to him first... then move to less sociable methods if necessary. Maybe she ought to bring someone of higher rank... or a Vehicon medic team...

"Breakdown..." He said, slight annoyance tinging his cultured, high-class tone, "You've been buffing the same panel on my back for nearly three breems now. I asked you to help, not buff a _hole_ through me."

"Sorry KO... Guess I've got something on my processor." Breakdown replied distractedly, putting down the buffer.

Knockout rolled his optics impatiently, "As in, 'do it properly' not 'stop trying completely'. What's got you so preoccupied? Did some _oaf_ tell you about the _flaw_ in the back of your helm plates?"

"I have a flaw in the back of my helm plates?" Breakdown asked, shaking his helm slightly as he stood up. "So? No I was just thinking."

The red medic smirked, standing up as well, admiring his freshly buffed and polished armor. He really was the most handsome mech on this rust-bucket. He deserved better than this boring life on this dreary speck in the galaxy.

"That's a rather dangerous occupation for you, big guy. I'd stick to breaking things if I were you..." Knockout frowned slightly, arching his back gracefully as he drawled, "On second thought, thank Primus I'm _not_ you, Break... It must be _dread_fully embarrassing to go around looking like _that_."

"Hey! I'm not that-" Breakdown cut off his exclamation, looking down at his own frame indignantly. Shaking his helm again, he smiled a sad, self-deprecating little smile. "You're right though. She wouldn't be interested."

Now Knockout raised an optic ridge, intrigued. "Oh really? Fancy a femme, do you? Now that is rather odd coming from you... What unlucky femme could have caught your optic?"

Unforturnately, before Breakdown could answer his question, the door whooshed open. Knockout very quickly forgot about their conversation as he beheld the person entering with purposed stride.

"Ah... Speaking of beauty incarnate..." Knockout said quietly, making sure to speak just loud enough for her to hear him. Not that they really had been speaking of that… But that was beside the point. He bowed to her slightly, rather pointedly still keeping a close optic on her cannon. "Hello Lieutenant Commander. Enjoying your promotion, mi'lady?"

Terabyte glared up at him from where she stood, almost to his shoulders. Knockout smiled at her while she glared at him through her now-red optics. Same height as Cliffjumper and Bumblebee.

"Quite so, Medic." She said, her voice and optics betraying a hidden smile, "In fact, thank you for the reminder. Do close your mouth, please."

"Oh I understand." Knockout drawled, "I realize that my handsome-ness can be intimidating, but there's really no need to be shy, sweetspark."

Her voice went sickeningly sweet, so sweet it seemed to burn his audials, "That was an order, by the way. I believe the Vehicons would find it _very_ amusing if you were incarcerated for insubordination. Don't you think so, Breakdown?"

The blue jeep laughed roughly, "Oh yes. I'm sure most of the higher ups would agree too."

Knockout's optics widened slightly as he considered the dingy, unkempt cells of the brig. Rust and mildew on the walls, just waiting to corrode any unfortunate mech to be trapped in their clutches. He shuddered as he envisioned his paint job after brig-time.

The vain medic, for even he knew that he was vain, obediently sealed his lip-plates. When Terabyte spoke next, he could practically taste her smugness, "Now, to business. I am leading a mission to add Blitzwing to Decepticon ranks. You are coming with me and three of the Vehicons."

Forgetting to follow her orders, Knockout spluttered, "The mech's a nutter; you want me to join you on a suicide mission! _I'm_ not going to get myself scrapped to bring home a psychopath." He crossed his arms over his chest firmly, waving one hand at her like he was waving aside an insect. "You can go get scrapped all on your own, thank you very much."

Again she glared at him, her optics seeming to melt holes through his paint job. "That was not a request either, Knockout. Come. _Now_."

**Meanwhile**

Skyquake ran a scan over himself for the zillionth time, still finding nothing. Cliffjumper sat nearby, tapping his pede impatiently.

"So..." The red warrior said, drawing the word out for a painfully long stretch, "Now what?"

"Quiet." Skyquake growled out, not really listening to the mech.

He knew Terabyte had planted a tracker on him somewhere during the battle with Blitzwing a while back... It was just a matter of finding the thing. Her trackers were tiny and had camouflaging capabilities, so it would only be visible as a lump in his armor. Which was somewhat difficult since he had quite a lot of armor.

It wasn't showing up on his scans, so she must have improved on it since last time she tagged him with one of the annoying things. Cliffjumper sitting over there watching him while he searched for the tracker certainly wasn't helping either, and his patience was long since run out.

"Well?" Cliffjumper questioned more insistently, "You just going to stand there looking at your own chassis all orn?"

"I said, quiet!" Skyquake roared in exasperation.

"And I say that's not a good enough explanation!" The grounder roared back, leaping to his pedes, wobbling just a bit on the disfigured silver pede. "How is this helping get her back?"

Skyquake's engine made a strangled noise as he tried to convince himself not to kill the annoying little Autobot. Turning his back to the mech hadn't helped as much as he'd hoped. Finally he managed to grind out the words, "If I find her tracker, I find her."

"You mean that nifty little thing right there?" Cliffjumper asked, that stupid smile back in his voice.

As Cliffjumper spoke, he poked Skyquake's wing-connectors, surprising the significantly larger jet. Skyquake yelped in shock at the tickly touch to the extremely sensitive wing connectors, spinning around quickly to glare at the mech who dared to touch them. No one touched his wing-cons.

Skyquake's audio receptors failed to register the crash of some heavy object colliding with his wing, shortly followed by a moan, shortly followed by a thud. All the jet knew was that someone had touched his wing-cons and that someone was now going to receive a very loud and likely physical rebuking so that they never did it again. However, when Skyquake turned around, there was no one behind him.

Finally the enraged jet calmed down enough to hear a grunt from his pedes and he slowly looked down. And what greeted his optics was a groaning pile of red mech, who probably had a rather severe helm-ache now, along with one side of his helm being considerably flatter now. About the same time that Skyquake made this observation, he also realized that he very probably currently had a Cliffjumper-shaped dent in his right wing.

The army green jet shrugged his wings and shoulders slightly, smirking at the rising Autobot, his brusque voice sounding incredibly unapologetic. "_Whoops_. I don't like mechs touching my wing-connectors."

"_Whoops_?!" Cliffjumper roared, wincing as his flattened face-plates shifted. Since the side of his helm had been dented in, his face was rather squished up.

Skyquake cocked his helm, studying the mech's face, the smirk spreading into a wide grin. "Your face looks much better that way I think. Not unlike a swollen robofish... You know, rather than an electrosaur's tail..."

Cliffjumper blinked multiple times, no doubt picturing himself by that description. He still didn't looked very amused. In fact, he looked absolutely livid. "I'm gonna _kill_ you some day."

"In your dreams, Little Mech." Skyquake said calmly, quite enjoying pushing the other mech's buttons. Any mech was fun to mess with after nearly two orns without recharge.

"I'm not little!" Cliffjumper responded instantly, scowling.

"Your comebacks would hold more weight were they not recycled." Skyquake mused aloud, just to annoy the red mech. Just because he could. Terabyte would have loved to listen to this...

A jolt of pain racked his spark, instantly shattering the jet's playful mood. Cliffjumper seemed to notice the sudden change in Skyquake's demeanor, for he too sobered. In unison they said, "This isn't getting her back."

"Give me the tracker." Skyquake ordered gruffly, commander-mode back in full force.

He tried to ignore how the mech's clumsy servos brushed against the wing connectors. Somehow he managed to ignore how much each slip tickled. Even though Cliffjumper only took something like three astroseconds to remove the tracker, it felt like vorns. At long last the tracker was in his hand, no more than a tiny mechanical button.

"So how's that gonna help?" Cliffjumper asked skeptically. "It's like, a fridge magnet."

Skyquake's faceplates squinched up in confusion. "What's a 'fridge'?" Shaking his helm, the jet opened a panel on his wrist, revealing several different shapes of dataports. He clicked it into the right slot and explained, "Nevermind... I plug the thingy in here and it does stuff."

The red mech's already squashed face seemed to get a little squashier as he frowned. If Skyquake thought too hard about how the Autobot looked, than he'd be unable to stop laughing. So he didn't think about it. Cliffjumper muttered, "Oh yeah. You plug the 'thingy' in there and it does 'stuff'. Great… Tell me again why I thought trusting you'd be a good idea?"

"Cause." Skyquake replied, his focus side-tracked and the lack of recharge making his helm kind of fuzzy. Their unspoken little face-off was going to get them was going to get them both killed. "I am awesome."

His ruby optics dimmed as he tried to pay attention to the lifeless little line of code that was the tracking device. Thankfully, not a whole lot of hacking and programming was involved. All he had to do was move a section of the code further up the line and switch out a few signs and it was done.

Disconnecting the tracker, Skyquake looked up at Cliffjumper. "Done. This should work."

"_Should_." Cliffjumper repeated. Obviously the red mech was also having difficulties with the lack of recharge. "Gotcha. Should be a piece of En-cake then!" Saluting him lazily, the mech said, "Righty then, where to Mr. Jetbrain, sir?"

Skyquake merely growled, turning to the terminal and tapping in the coordinates given by the tracker. "Russia."

He was still sitting there. In the rubble of the museum. Having a tea party with a decapitated statue of Ivan the Terrible. His face was a crazed jack-o-lantern. Squishies ran around him in a panic, while others videoed the scene as if being minutes away from their messy, squishy deaths was the greatest thing in the world.

Terabyte snorted, her sensitive audials picking up on every sound around her. Except Knockout of course. She tuned him out ages ago. The spy rolled her fiery red optics, her patience with the medic having run out several groons ago. Her almost completely black armor shone ebony in the sun that seemed farther away than normal.

"No need for covert operations." Terabyte stated, watching the chaos unfurling in the city below them. "Move in, surround the triple-changer, but do nothing that might be perceived as threatening. We are Decepticons, not sparkless warmongers."

One of the Vehicons attempted to fake a cough to hide his derisive laughter. Needless to say, his attempt was quite unsuccessful. She heard the clang of metal on metal as his companion elbowed him harshly. She sighed. "Headcase. Do you have something you wish to tell me?"

Beside her, Knockout was smirking. His engine kept hitching like he was stifling laughter. Headcase saluted to her dorsal plates, "Sir, no, sir!"

"Very well." She said stiffly, trying to keep her annoyance from tinging her tone. "Move out."

Once the Vehicons had left, Terabyte turned to Cliffj- Knockout. For about the millionth time in the past breem, the dark femme reproached the mysterious voice in her helm. Why did she keep thinking she liked that grinning... Autobot? The annoying voice wouldn't even let her think of any decent insults. Her engine growled deeply, making the red mech side-step away from her.

"I said, be quiet!" She bit out angrily, swiping at the air by her helm as if it would make that voice go away.

Cli- Knockout was now looking at her like she had just gone off her rocker. Especially since she roared like a feral creature as again her processor tried to call the medic Cliffjumper.

She hoped the horned warrior was okay... Terabyte clutched her helm, her light gray, clawed servos slowly screeching as she drew them over her helm. No she didn't! She wished she'd stayed to ensure his death! All Autobots deserved to die for their wrongs. She would kill them all to bring the Energon of thousands to justice!

Terabyte scratched a little more viciously, feeling the satisfaction of paint and metal shavings falling from her helm as her claws scrabbled at its surface. She wished she could just rip out the contradictory shadow in her processor. Maybe then it would finally stop bothering her with doubts.

"Leave me alone..." She mumbled angrily. "Go away."

But he loved her like a sister, the shrouded portion of her mind argued. They never did anything to harm her. What reason did she have to not believe them?

"What reason do I have _to_ believe them?" She hissed into the empty air, no longer aware of the disgusted medic beside her awaiting her orders. "They destroyed cities, killed families, killed Skyquake! Isn't that reason enough to kill them all? They are why Skyquake is dead!"

"Well... That was rather... sudden. Talk about a nutcase." Knockout commented dryly, his voice and words only vaguely registering to her. He mused, "Megatron will be just _thrilled_ to hear that his toy has finally broken down. And I thought Blitzbrain over there was the crazy one."

She rose unsteadily to her pedes, wondering if she'd lost it. Her processors certainly were not feeling one hundred percent together. Terabyte casually cracked her neck struts back into alignment, snatching a polishing cloth from subspace and rubbing it quickly over her helm and hands. She had a mission to fulfill, and it paid to look presentable.

Venting deeply to calm her conflicted mind, the lieutenant commander glared at the medic, making him wilt ever-so-slightly. "Blitzwing is a clinical pyschopath, this could go down either way. Be prepared. Let's go."

"As ship's medic, I'd have to say the same for certain femme commanders..." Knockout muttered, nevertheless following her down to the triple-changer.

She leapt over a fallen stone pillar agilely, her mini-cannon ready, but not charged. Her Energon dagger was still sheathed. Blitzwing glanced up at the dark femme casually as she landed a few meters away from him.

"Ah, helloo pretty leettle traitor!" The crazy-faced mech greeted, his cheerful tone not matching up with his words. "I likes ze neew paint job. Eet's eveel looking."

She inclined her helm slightly, accepting his compliments. Being ungrateful would only serve to offend the unstable mech. Glancing down at the purple insignia engraved on her belt-plate, the femme smiled behind her midnight blue mask. "That was the point."

His face swapped over to the icy blue, monocled face. His lips were pursed thoughtfully, "I take eet you are a Deecepteecon onshe more? Vhat do you vant, beetrayer of ze factions?"

"I never changed sides, Blitzwing." She said coldly, quite bored of telling people this. "My loyalties have never wavered. I came to offer you a proposition of sorts."

Faces switching back to the jack-o-lantern, the jet giggled, "Ooh! Proposeetions! How exciteeng!" The red, gap-denta'd face glared at her suspiciously, pulling out his flame gun. "Vhat kind of proposeetion? I vill teear out your shpark and _eat_ eet if you are lyeeng!"

"Um..." Terabyte pictured the faceless mech attempting to eat anything. It was a rather messy image. "I'll take your word on that one, Blitz. Anyhow. We would like for you to come back to the Nemesis with us."

Blue monocle'd face frowned as he contemplated her offer, twirling his ice-ray. "Ze offer eez vaary eentereshting, Lieeutenant. Howayver, I vill have to decline."

Switching back to his red face, he pressed his dual-setting gun - once again spewing flames out the end - into her chest, scorching the black paint. "Eexcept I hate any mech zat zinks leaving heez loyal mechs on steenking _mudballs_ for _vorns_ vas a good idea!"

Terabyte took several steps backwards, trying to get away from the enraged mech's weapon. The femme tried playing ignorant, "Of whom would you speaking?"

As if that was going to work. He was definitely pychotic, but not dumb. Blitzwing's face glitched out for a moment as his faces fought for dominance before finally the scribbled face sneered at her, blinking his red optics sweetly, his voice falsely calm, "Oh, none but ze great Lord Protector, Maygatron. Our leeader eez _vaary_ kind, eez he not?"

The angry face appeared again, taking several more menacing steps towards her. Terabyte stifled a growl as she caught a glimpse of Knockout and the Vehicons simply watching, entertained by her plight. "Een fact, he's so kind, I could just rip off heez rusty face! Though right now _anyvon's_ face vill do..."

Continuing her slowly retreating steps, the spy smiled under her mask. He'd been enraged when the Autobots destroyed his statue. After all, three vorns of work. Not to mention that the nut-case probably enjoyed killing... She might just have a bargaining chip.

Changing tactics quickly, Terabyte stopped retreating and threw on a considering expression and posture. "That Energon statue of yourself... It was quite a work of art. Beautiful craftsmechship."

The cold, logical face regarded her carefully, his tone and expression smug. "Eet truly vas. Zree vorns I vorked on eet. Every stroke vas peerfectly and mazemateecally preecise."

"I doubt any other sculptor could have reached your level of natural expertise, Blitzwing." The dark femme said, practically oozing flattery. It made her want to purge, but it was certainly working. Her fiery red bio-lights were flaring bright in her disgust. "But the Autobots didn't appreciate your awe-inspiring work, did they? Destroyed it without a second thought. Three vorns of work, crushed."

"_Yees_!" The gap-denta'd face hissed. That particular face reminded her a lot of one of the old Kaonian drill sergeants. He clenched his fists so hard the tan plating groaned. "Zey have no reeshpect for peerfection! Zey deeserve to be mercy-lessly _shlaughtered_! I vant zeir life-En on my hands!"

Terabyte nodded encouragingly, smirking smugly behind her mask. All she'd needed was to work him up, and she'd convince him to do anything. Now she just needed to hope her proposition came out tactfully. "The foolish Autobots that dared to destroy your three-vorn masterpiece ought to pay for their crime. We and Lord Megatron also wish to bring them to justice. Together, we can all reach our common goal."

The blue face, which for convenience's sake she was going to dub *Icy, gave her a flat stare that seemed to pierce right through her. "Your proposheetion eez logeecally shound..."

His face swapped to the jack-o-lantern - she dubbed this one *Random - and he struck a heroic pose, grinning widely with his holo-face staticky. "But I can keell zem all on my own vith my shtrikeeng features!"

"And no bot can shurvive my wrath! I vill _keell_ zem all een ze beeggest eckshplosion ze galackshy has ayver sheen!" The red face of war - she'd just call him *Hothead - yelled, unsheathing every weapon he had, along with several from subspace, obscuring the mech from view behind a massive cluster of missiles, rocket launchers, grenades, cannons, swords, blasters, lasers, saws, warhammers, and pretty much every kind of weapon Terabyte had ever seen along with several that she couldn't classify.

(*These names are from the tfwiki, not my imagination)

Instinctually, every mech around the triple-changer jumped backwards. Terabyte had to concentrate to keep her armor from shrinking closer to her protoform. She chuckled lightly as she continued to lay on the flattery. Flattery was not her strong suit, though oftentimes well-placed sarcasm worked just as well. "_Doubtless_, your might is inspiring to all that see it... But even such a powerful mech as yourself requires Energon and maintenance. In return for your loyalty, the Decepticons will keep you fuelled and in top repair. Why should one so mighty be brought so low as to scavenge among the _fleshlings_ like a cyberhound?"

Icy glared at her for a moment before retracting the fatal cloud of weaponry reluctantly. "You are a vaary vise, logeecal feemme. Your argument eez valeed and I have been pershuaded."

Hothead appeared, somewhat pouty looking, "I vill follow you to ze Nemesis. And not keell you."

The words had hardly left his mouth when his faces swirled abruptly to Random, his optics wide and sparkling in anticipation. He giggled femme-ishly, "I can keell zem eenstead zough!"

Frowning in minor confusion, Terabyte and the Decepticon medic turned to see who the tan and purple tank/jet was talking about. Her optics grew wide and she felt her processors speed up and slow down repeatedly, her vents hitching, and her engine making choked noises.

Her processors powered down for a fraction of an astrosecond, rebooting and crashing repeatedly. Her optics rebooted rapidly, shock and disbelief flooding her systems as her logic center tried to comprehend the visual data she was receiving.

Her systems couldn't cope. She was going to glitch out. Her systems couldn't cope.

"Sk-k-k... Sky... Q-quake?"


	34. Confessions and Consequences

**Duty and Deceit **

**Chapter 34**

**Confessions and Consequences**

_Mama always had such pretty diamond roses. The yellow and blue sparkling had never seen anyone else with roses as nice as her Mama's. These roses weren't Mama's though, they were wild. But pretty none the less. She stumbled over a something in the road, too intent on the roses to really think about much else. A few adults said stuff to her, but she didn't know them. So they, and whatever they had to say, really wasn't that important._

_She was going to see Stormsong again today. To give her these pretty roses. And the box of yummies she won at school for solving all her quadratics correctly. The young femme glanced around shyly before popping one into her mouth quickly. Ms. Stormsong wouldn't mind. _

_Her small, chubby second-frame sparkling pedes clicked on the shiny sidewalks as she pattered along. Something was wrong with the road though. It made the femmeling look up with a pudgy scowl. The buildings weren't as shiny as they were supposed to be, and the roads had holes. The adults were giving her worried looks, but the child wandered on determinedly._

_After a while she sighed quietly as yet another adult said stuff. This one was kinda angry though. And he walked sort of lopsidedy, like he didn't know how to use his pedes right. It was funny._

_Grinning up at the weird smelling mech, she said sweetly, "Hiya... What's wong wiv your pedes? You're not walking real good."_

_"Uh?" The brown mech mumbled intelligently. Wobbling some more, his chest made a funky squeak. He then ignored her and continued to trip along his drunken way._

_"Fine den." The yellow and blue femme said, putting her little hands on her hips, mimicking her Mama. "You jus' go on your way. Iss not like I ac-tu-all-y said someting." She huffed, still mimicking her carrier. "Mechs."_

_She turned a corner, wondering if maybe she had made a wrong turn sometime along the way. Maybe she wasn't going to find Stormsong's apartment that direction. Maybe this one'd be better. _

_Humming happily, the femme examined her surroundings carefully. It was kind of grungy round here. A tiny black thing was huddled in the corner next to a trash can. It had wings and they were rattling against each other and the trash can. The yellow and blue femmeling poked the thing with her foot._

_It uncurled and she saw a brilliant flash of blue, startling her. Optics. Blue ones. She fell backwards onto her aft and dropped the flowers and box. He blinked at her, trails of silver on his face-plate where the coolant tears had washed away the grime. He was whimpering. The poor little mech was even smaller than she was. And that was kind of an accomplishment, since she was the littlest kid in school._

_"H-hello!" She said cautiously, smiling warmly at the mechling. "Are you lost too?"_

_The dirty sparkling's little armor plating squeezed tight to his protoform and he shivered convulsively, still whimpering pathetically. "G'way."_

_Her face melted into a worried, pitying pout. Reaching forward, she put a pristine silver hand on his filthy knee-plate. "Aww... I won't hurt you... Pwomise."_

_At her touch, the mechling screamed, trying unsuccessfully to shrink even closer to the alley wall. "No touch! G'way!"_

_She slumped back down in the dirt, momentarily defeated. Then the light hit the diamonds and the shiny new box of silvers. Humming thoughtfully, the femmeling picked up a handful of the diamond roses and handed them to the sparkling slowly._

_He looked up momentarily. After a while he relaxed and accepted the roses, staring at them happily. "Pwetties. Dank-oo..."_

_Staring at them for a while longer, the little filthy mechling smiled at her. Pointing at the little shiny box, he said, "Bock."_

_Grinning widely, the little youngling opened it and offered him a silver drop. "See? Try one! They's reeeeaallllllyyy goooood. Twust me."_

_Accepting it greedily, the mechling stuffed it in his mouth. Shortly afterwards his thin face lit up with joy. He was practically bouncing on his ball joints. "Nudder? Nudder?"_

_"Yup! By the way... I'm Terabyte... But c'mon," She ate a silver drop and handed him another one, laughing and standing up. "Up?"_

_"Smokescween's me." He bounced to his pedes, the little wings on his back twitching excitedly. He held out his hands pleadingly, smiling really cutely. "Nudder, sis'r, nudder?"_

_Something in her chest seemed to be smiling. She'd never had a little brother before. This'd be fun! She gave him another piece of silver. "I'll bring you home! Mama and Papa'll love you!"_

_"Nuvs you, Tewabye..." Smokescreen said, smiling around the candy. "Um... Nudder?... Pwease?"_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"My loyalties," The jet spat, his ruby optics boring into him, "Have not changed. And no faction will ever hold my loyalty again."**

**"Move in, surround the triple-changer, but do nothing that might be perceived as threatening. We are Decepticons, not sparkless warmongers."**

**"Sk-k-k... Sky... Q-quake?"**

Strong arms supported her against a strong, warm frame. Each spark-pulse vibrated through her frame, causing her spark to automatically pulse in sync with the larger pulse. Perfectly content, the femme's armor and frame remained completely relaxed as one by one her systems rebooted. It felt good to relax her whole frame. It'd stayed flared so long...

Then the memories flooded in and her blood red optics flung open to be greeted by the very reason for her recent glitch. As she took in that wonderful face-plate, her logic processors threatened to glitch out again. Finally, she concluded that the voices in her helm had finally succeeded in driving her mad. So, since she was very obviously crazy and seeing dead people, she must be hallucinating.

"Sky..." She whispered finally, staring up into the beautiful ruby optics of the mech supporting her still-wobbly frame. Smiling weakly, Terabyte said bluntly, "You're dead."

He chuckled quietly. "What do you mean? I'm right here."

Terabyte shrugged her midnight blue shoulders, still studying his face, determined to engrave an image of it in her mind, "For now. And that's what matters."

"Tera..." He touched her revealed face-plates, gently tracing over the scar running from her left optic to the left corner of her lips, "I swear to you, I will always be here for you."

"But you won't! Because you _died_!" She screamed, pulling away roughly. All her weapons charged up and her fiery bio-lights flared brighter than ever before. "I _watched_ you fade away."

Pointing her cannon at Cliffjumper, who stood back watching with concern on his oddly squashed face, the broken femme said, "And it's their fault! They deserve to die for what they did to you. And I will ensure that they do if it's the last thing I do."

"Terabyte..." Skyquake said quietly, his arms still spread apart in an invitation for a hug. Normally such a gesture from her closest friend would have melted Terabyte's rage. But he was a figment. It would never be the same. And that made her even angrier. "Do you remember what I told you *before I left on this mission?"

**(*To be featured at a later date that as of yet is undecided)**

She smiled at the memory, "Of course… You said, "Tera, I will _always_ love you and I will always be here for you, in person or in spark... Ages may come and go as they please and that will never change."

The spy blinked her optics, coolant slowly rolling down her face-plates as she accepted the offered hug, burying her helm into his cockpit. By this point, she no longer had any thoughts for any of their surroundings.

Skyquake hugged her tightly in return, so tightly that it hurt. Terabyte really didn't care though. She just cried into his cockpit. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight as if he thought that if he could hold her together. Nevertheless, her frame didn't completely relax. After all, she was hugging her own imagination. "That hasn't changed, Tera... It never will."

"Okay, Figment." She said weakly, not moving for a long while. A more cynical part of her chuckled lightly. Here she was, hugging the dead mech that was a product of her imagination. Finally she whispered, "I thought we had so much more time... I always thought, you know, after the war... Once I'd avenged Protihex and the war ended... We'd have all the time in the world."

The green jet didn't say a word, only continued to hold her. The steady thrum of his spark was so realistically calming. She hadn't realized that her processors were even capable of conjuring up such a perfect hallucination. Then again, she didn't go around hallucinating all that often to have experience.

"I mean, of course, we were in the middle of a war. But I never thought that one of us would die. I guess I just figured that happened to other mechs. I should've known better." The darkly colored femme laughed a cold, empty, humorless laugh that shook her light frame. It sounded so utterly... broken. "After all, everyone I've ever loved has died... Yes. You'd think I'd've learned by now."

Terabyte could feel his sad gaze boring into the top of her helm and she shifted to look up into his ruby optics. His expression was hard to read. She'd never seen that expression before. He seemed... shocked. Stunned. Overwhelmed by what she'd just said.

And that was when the realization hit. Her frame tensed ever-so-slightly and her mask and finials twitched. Then she basically gave up completely at trying to stay upright on her own as she felt an extreme sense of defeat. Her next words were a statement of fact, "You really are standing there aren't you. I'm not actually hallucinating."

Skyquake nodded almost imperceptibly, a tiny smile curving the edge of his lips. "Hey."

She slammed her helm into his cockpit. If he weren't still giving her the gyro-bear hug, she would've face-palmed. But his cockpit was the most accessible thing available to bang her helm on at the moment.

The femme stood there for a while with her helm still pressed into his cockpit. Finally she whispered, "Sky?"

"Yes?" He replied instantly, whispering as well, though he sounded like he wasn't entirely sure of why.

Smiling up at him, Terabyte said, still whispering, "You could probably let up on the super hug now..."

Skyquake released her slowly and took a step back. "Tera, come back with us. The Decepticons have altered your memories and maybe even your core programming. You don't really believe in the cause Megatron is using you to further. You never have."

The petite spy's expression went stiff, her armor puffing up, making her slight frame seem just that much larger. The midnight navy mask snapped back into place, blood red optics hardening. She backed up so that both Skyquake and Cliffjumper were in her view. Her dagger shot out and the miniature fusion cannon whirred to life.

"You would question my loyalty, Skyquake? Of all mechs, you're the last I would have suspected of treason."

He refused to meet her gaze. "And yet here we stand."

The calm, contentment melted completely out of her thoughts. Instantly she became aware of everything around her. Knockout watching the three of them – Sky, Cliff, and herself – like a holovid. Blitzwing trying to convince Knockout that blowing up everything in a fifty mile radius would be more entertaining. The Vehicons looking around with twitchy trigger-servos, just waiting for an order from someone.

"I watched you fade with my own optics. How can you live?" She demanded, suspicion overriding her joy at seeing the jet alive and well, aside from a helm-shaped dent in his wing. She glared first at the Autobot then at the jet she thought she knew. "What twisted Autobot _bait_ is this? To make you live again with a mind filled with Autobot propaganda." Glaring at the red Autobot, "Your tricks won't work on me. Skyquake is _dead_. This… this _thing _spewing your lies is _not_ Sky."

Cliffjumper stepped forward, his hands raised placatingly. "TB... It's no-"

"Shut up, _Autobot_." She spat contemptuously, "I've wasted enough time playing your games."

Turning to her Decepticon team, Terabyte snarled. "The Autobot and the deceased mech are not worth wasting our energy on. Our mission was a success, we will return to the Nemesis immediately."

As she turned and stomped away from the would-be battlefield, she opened a comm-link to contact the Nemesis for a bridge. A huge hand, belonging to a mech even bigger than Skyquake, landed itself on her shoulders, causing her knees to buckle slightly. Hydraulics in her pedes hissed under the sudden pressure. Terabyte glanced over at the hand on her shoulder, finials twitching in annoyance. It was obvious that the mech had to hunch over to reach her shoulder.

"Blitzwing." She acknowledged stiffly, a small amount of strain touching her voice. "Did you have a question?"

"Yes!" The triple-changer's angry face held an excited expression. "Can I keell zem? Vithout mercy?"

Sighing deeply, the dark femme shuttered her optics. She had no doubts as to Blitzwing's ability to 'keell zem'. The only thing she wondered about was whether or not the mech could be trusted to follow them home once he was done killing the Autobots. Her logic processors suggested that the probability was doubtful.

Now the tan and purple mech - Random - was practically bouncing out of his own armor, holding his hands together in a pleading gesture, "Pleeease, pretty leettle traitor-boss, I vill be ever een your debt!"

Knockout, who seemed well and truly done with being in the triple-changer's presence, commed her on a private line, _/As your advisor on this mission, I would suggest that you just let the idiot go on his little killing spree./_

"Fine. You may go." The femme said. Raising a servo quickly, she stopped the jet/tank in his tracks, preventing him from leaving, "On one condition: you return to the Nemesis by the end of this joor. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am! I vill reeturn to you vith zeir helms!"

Picturing this in her mind, the spy semi-successfully repressed a shudder. The voice in the back of her helm whispered its concerns for her 'friends'. Facing Knockout as they emerged through the ground bridge on the roof of the Nemesis, she said, "Knockout... If he really does show up with their helms... could you... _dispose_ of them for me?"

"It would be my pleasure." The medic said with a somewhat disturbing smirk. He went on in his rich, high-class accent, "I believe a visit to the doctor's office is _quite_ in order... When would be a good time?"

"Never?" She muttered under her breath, really not in the mood for a medical check-up. Rolling her shoulder-wheels, Terabyte took in a deep, worn out vent of air. Might as well get it over with. "As soon as possible, please."

**Meanwhile, Moscow**

He growled as her shape disappeared through the violet and emerald portal. Hissing through his denta the green jet roared in frustration, kicking the stump of a scrawny little tree. As if to spite him, the plant fell over momentarily before springing back up as if nothing had happened.

The tiny humans were running around them as close as they dared, taking video and pictures of himself, the red Autobot, and the tan and purple tank now rumbling towards him. The Decepticon carelessly ran over anything or anyone that got in his way. A small group of humans were panicking and trying to outrun the tank rather than dodge. They were going to get themselves squished.

Skyquake snarled again. It wasn't the pathetic flesh bags' fault they couldn't get out of the way fast enough. He glanced over at Cliffjumper to see if he'd noticed the fleshies' danger.

"Little Mech!" He roared, his deep voice rumbling over the chaos of screaming organics. "Get the organics out of the way!"

Transforming quickly, the jet made for the skies, his engines sending a satisfying sonic boom through the city below. Cliffjumper sent a few angered glyphs over the comms. _/And what, may I ask, will you be doing while this nutcase tries to make confetti out of me?!/_

_/Saving your sorry aft, __**Autobot**__./ _Skyquake replied smugly, sending a hail of bullets down on Blitzwing. _/You got a problem with that?/_

The red warrior sent no reply.

Blitzwing wasn't reacting to the jet's offensive as well as he'd planned. Skyquake growled in frustration. He really didn't want to fight the triple-changer with the organics squishing under pede with every step. That would get old fast. Organics had a way of exploding in splatters of smelly wet stuff that got in hard-to-clean places.

Honestly, he wasn't in the mood to kill the mech anyway. He didn't have the time to bother with it. Terabyte's processor had been altered so much that she thought he was dead. If he could just prove to her that he wasn't being used by the Autobots...

But he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to go back to the 'Cons. Lord Megatron had never really cared about those under his command; Skyquake had given and taken enough beatings to know that. Terabyte's hatred had kept her obedient and she'd been shielded from the truth to keep her loyal. Mostly because of something Soundwave saw in her. He however, knew full well what went on in the troops.

Enough to know that their leader saw them only as a means to his own power. Soldiers were expendable. Replace-able.

But he would join them again. At least until he could get her out. For Terabyte.

His mind being made up, Skyquake ceased firing on Blitzwing and turned around to the shiny red mech below. After a moment's hesitation, he let loose his machine gun on the Autobot, earning a surprised and angered yelp from the mech.

He said he'd get her back. He never said who for.

_/Hey! Jetbrain! Whose side are you on anyway? The 'Con's over there!/ _Cliffjumper sent still blasting at Blitzwing while glaring up at him.

_/Like I said before, Little Mech, my loyalties have not changed./ _

Continuing the barrage from the skies, Skyquake began a steep dive towards the mech, angling himself to gain the most speed. Cliffjumper tried to dodge, but the green jet only adjusted as necessary. The wind whistled over his frame, his nosecone slicing through the cold Russian air with ease.

He'd never stop loving the thrill of flight. He felt unstoppable up here. Invincible. And one hundred percent in control.

Moments before he would have crashed right into the Autobot, Skyquake transformed, flinging his feet forward. A resounding boom filled the air as his feet came in contact with Cliffjumper's abdominal plating, crunching the metal instantly. The impact made Skyquake's knees buckle slightly, which he used to his advantage, shoving off of the mech before he fell, landing nimbly on his pedes, sliding back several feet with one hand dragging on the ground for balance.

Dust rose up around them both, Cliffjumper's cry of pain cut off by the lack of air in his vents. Judging by the crunching, the jet figured he'd at least done some decent internal damage. He'd need something to give Lord Megatron if he wanted to get back in. A peace offering of sorts. Dying Autobots always made for good presents where their leader was concerned.

Just then, blazing agony erupted from his wing connectors and helm simultaneously. Gasping at the unexpected blow to the sensitive wing-cons - the hit to the helm he could've dealt with - Skyquake fell to his hands and knees.

He groaned as he felt his tanks protest to the intense pain. Whoever hit him either had outstanding luck, or knew from experience just how sensitive the wing connectors were. Skyquake retched, purging all the Energon from his tanks. His vision was starting to go fuzzy as his wings went numb.

The red blob in front of him was hugging its stomach, glaring at him with an emotion his processors were too pain-dulled to register.

Piercing, icy blue optics...

**Meanwhile: Omega Outpost 1**

Optimus sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. That mech. He was almost too much work to keep in line. Always charging out to the front-lines; usually before he - Optimus - even knew they were there. Sometimes he wondered why in the galaxy Vector Sigma chose him to be a Prime. Surely there was someone better suited for the job; more patient anyway. A loud, high-pitched beeping filled his audials.

Beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep.

"Ratchet?" He asked somewhat impatiently, walking towards his old friend slowly.

"Our sensors have detected a Decepticon energy profile... but the signal is ancient." Ratchet replied, sounding like he very much thought it was another glitch in the systems. Granted, there had been a lot of glitches ever since the Scraplet infestation.

The Matrix was prodding him in a direction, but it was difficult to tell which direction it was trying to point him. He sighed again. "Things of the past have a way of catching up with the present, Ratchet. Open a ground-bridge."

Turning around to face his team, the Prime said simply, "Autobots, roll out."

"Optimus," Arcee asked, hands on her hips. Her posturing and tone suggested that he needed to be ready for an argument. He really wasn't in the mood for a fight with the aggressive femme-bot. "Cliffjumper and the prisoner are still MIA. Are we just going to leave Cliff' at the hands of the traitors and 'Cons?"

"Arcee," He said warningly, starting right off with the end-game voice, "We have no proof that Terabyte and Skyquake betrayed us willingly; we will not make any unreasonable and unprecedented assumptions. As for Cliffjumper: he is a grown mech, skilled in battle, and he has been in captive situations before. He can take care of himself until rescue."

The fierce two-wheeler glared up at him with her unique violet ringed optics. "It's not an 'unreasonable' or 'unprecedented' assumption to believe that a 'Con defector had alterior motives. Or that her beloved Skyquake should follow her!"

Optimus felt his optic ridges curve down into a scowl. Arcee had allowed herself to become just as blind in hatred for the other faction as Terabyte had. How could he ever bring this accursed war to an end if both factions were so drowned in hatred from the evils of the past?

"Tell me something, Arcee. And answer me honestly." The Prime began, his tone deadly serious. He really didn't want to pull this particular trump card on the femme. But she wasn't leaving him any other choice. "Were Tailgate to have betrayed us and joined the Decepticons... can you honestly say that you would not have considered following him?"

Arcee's armor fell slack, her mouth falling open slightly, as if she couldn't believe he would have asked such a thing. After half a klick of standing like that, completely slack-jaw stunned, her whole frame stiffened, armor flaring and hands twitching like they wanted to transform into blasters and shoot a hole through his spark.

"How _dare_ you suggest that he would _ever_ betray us?! Tailgate would _never_ join them! _Never_!" The femme shouted, dropping into an offensive stance. He doubted that she was aware that she had, or that her blasters were now charged and locked on his spark.

Automatically, Optimus raised a hand to calm her. His tone softened, his face-plates sliding into a calm, plactating expression. His spark and Matrix hummed softly in unison, too softly to be noticed by most, just like it always did in tense situations.

In spite of her instant aggression, the much larger scarlet and blue mech could tell that Arcee had in fact considered his query. And reacted the way she did to try and hide the conclusion she had come to.

Optimus never said a word. He just watched her with gentle cobalt optics, waiting for her to realize that her laser-blasters were locked on him. A klick passed in silence, all the other Autobots simply watching them, waiting to see how the situation would end up.

Arcee's blasters transformed back into hands, her lips pressed together as she straightened slowly. Her frame relaxed, her shoulders hunched slightly in defeat. "You're right. Cliff can take care of himself. And I know you wouldn't question Tailgate's loyalty. I'm sorry."

"A rescue operation for our three captured mechs will be mounted as soon as possible. Until then... They are strong. They will endure."

Having to make such decisions were never easy. He felt like he was failing his people when he couldn't rescue them before they were captured. But whatever this signal was would be powerful: the Ancients didn't mess around when it came to weaponry.

The Prime looked into each of his warrior's optics. They were strong. They may not know it, they may not always believe it, and they may not always act like it... But they _were_ strong. And that strength was why they were all still here.

"Autobots... roll out."


	35. Choices, Decisions

**Duty and Deceit **

**Chapter 35**

**Choices, Decisions**

_"Argh!" The Prussian blue femme roared in frustration, slamming her fist into the table. Her mask was up, but it hid little of her annoyance. She hissed in discomfort as the right side of her body spasmodically attempted to transform into her alt-mode while the left side remained still. "I swear I'll murder that medic if he doesn't fix this. Soon."_

_The battle last orn had left her with an irreparably damaged t-cog. The Autobot battalion they'd run into had included the Autobot 'Terror Twins' along with Ironhide and the AFS - the Autobot Femme Squad. The Decepticons simply hadn't been prepared for that tiny abandoned nuclear plant in Sector 13 to be such high priority to the Autobots_

_So, she'd been landed in med-bay for repair and a half-orn rehabilitation time. Except the good medic had decided to try out an experimental brand of t-cog that would supposedly work at a hundred and fifty percent of the efficiency of her original t-cog, allowing her half the transformation time. That sounded great, so the spy didn't object._

_Only the t-cog had 'a few minor glitches' as Knockout put it, which meant that random parts of her frame would rather painfully attempt to transform while the rest of her stayed stationary. After dealing with the malfunctioning t-cog and the vain and arrogant medic for three rotations... her patience had run very, very thin._

_Nightracer cocked an optic ridge at her. "Why do hate him so much? Knockout, I mean."_

_Giving her slightly-larger friend a flat look, the spy snorted, her left pede hanging over the edge of the sofa, partially transformed, "Aside from him using me as a lab-rat and giving me glitchy experimental parts that make my frame try to be in two forms at once?"_

_The sniper smiled sweetly at her, "M-hmm!"_

_She sighed, watching her servos curl and uncurl seemingly of their own free will. "I don't '__**hate**__' him, per say, I just... 'greatly dislike' him. He's vain, arrogant, and proud, and he thinks he's Primus' gift to Cybertron."_

_"You don't even give him a chance though... like just the mention of his name puts you in a mood." Nightracer insisted, biting the end of her stylus while she worked on a report._

_She smiled in relief under her mask as all of her frame relaxed into its proper place. With Nightracer, she never had to worry about being asked to take down her mask. Because the shy clone had a mask of her own. Nightracer understood. Unfortunately, that also meant that very little excaped the sniper._

_"I really don't know, Night." She answered finally. In all honesty, it was because Knockout reminded her so strongly of the school bully that would never leave Smokey alone. Some rich, high-class kid called Sunstorm. Up until the happy orn his family left town, she couldn't count the times she and Smokey had to share her Energon thanks to the golden example of arrogance incarnate. "Everything about him just rubs my armor the wrong way."_

_"Well, I guess that's valid..." Nightracer allowed, staring at the little two-wheeler's pedes, which had transformed into the back end of her vehicle-mode. "Maybe you should just have him give you the standard t-cog... If you offer to take his mess-hall clean-up shift for a few orns, Knockout'll probably forget about mastering the upgraded part."_

_The Protihexian femme laughed, standing up after forcing her pedes to transform back to bipedal mode. "We all know how much he loves clean-up duty. I'll go try that."_

_As she left, she heard Nightracer laugh, "Nothing like a bribe to sway the good medic... Good luck!"_

**Nemesis: Communications/Intel. Wing**

"Commander Soundwave, good cycle." Terabyte greeted distractedly as her processors were set to both decoding the encryptions in her own mind and scanning all of the internet and planet for anything that could lead them to the Autobots. She was getting closer and closer to locating their base with every passing groon.

Recalling the reason Soundwave had left and the mood he had been when he left, the spy stood up and saluted him smartly. As soon as she had arrived and briefed her commander on the reason Blitzwing hadn't returned with her, the purple mech had been furious. Those Autobots had useful information. Information that would bring the Decepticons to their goals incredibly quickly.

And she had basically told the manic triple-changer to have fun murdering them.

Terabyte bit her lip, remembering how close her boss had been to attacking her. She'd never made him so mad as to resort to violence. She didn't even know that he could get that mad. But it was turning out that there was a lot she hadn't known. And in her absence, in-rank violence had seemingly spiked.

Or was it always like that and she'd simply been too blind to notice? The spy shook her helm. The voice was getting to her. She was beginning to believe it... somehow that didn't surprise her though. Because she had a sinking suspicion; a sinking suspicion that that voice was not so far away, and not so foreign as she tried to convince herself it was.

In the end, Soundwave had gone to Russia. When he came back, he had ordered Knockout to repair the two mechs whose lives he'd just saved. And she figured that he was probably going to have her interrogate them eventually.

For now though, all he did was nod to her briefly before stomping off to his office where he then locked the door.

**Nemesis. Three Joors Since Capture. Brig.**

Skyquake blinked his ruby optics online, quickly taking in the wonderful scenery of crackling blue Energon-bars a few feet away from his helm. His wings were still vaguely tingly from the blow to the wing-cons earlier. Shifting to relieve the pressure on his right wing, the olive jet groaned.

At least he was alive.

From a corner somewhere behind him, a cheery voice, practically dripping condescending irony, called, "Rise and shine, genius! Are you enjoying the generous hospitality of the hotel Nemesis?"

The jet sighed and rolled over to get more comfortable, only to land on his back on the metal floor with a resounding clang. Letting out yet another groan, Skyquake stopped the Autobot's coming remark with a low growl, "Shut up, little mech."

Cliffjumper merely laughed, lounging comfortably in his berth with his hands under his helm, one pede propped up on the other mangled limb. "Lotta good that little stunt back there in Russia gotcha, huh?"

Getting up and sitting back down on his own berth, Skyquake leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands, glaring at the prison bars, as if he could somehow make them go offline if he glared at them hard enough. He didn't humor the mech with an answer. He wouldn't go for that bait.

"What? You won't even talk to your fellow Autobot and prisoner?" The red mech asked, putting on an injured tone. "That hurts, mech, that hurts."

Sighing, Skyquake ran a hand over his face-plate and glanced over at the red mech. "That didn't exactly go according to plan, did it."

The Autobot laughed so loud, the guards started giving him weird looks. Slapping a hand against his upper pede, Cliffjumper laughed almost hysterically. "Well, if that isn't the biggest understatement of the vorn, I'm a 'Con!"

Once he'd calmed down a bit, the Autobot continued, dead serious. "You do know that what you did back there puts you pretty high up on my 'Hate Their Guts, Never Trust' list, right?"

"Of course." Skyquake conceded easily. That much was obvious. Very reasonable. He would do the same in his place. But the truth was, now that his plan had so blatantly failed, Skyquake had no thoughts of joining the Cons. If the opportunity arrived, he would, for Terabyte. But otherwise, he was going to focus on getting her back without joining Megatron.

"So..." Cliffjumper started slowly, dragging out the vowel, "If you were all 'I'm gonna be an Autobot now'... Why'd you do it?"

The mech stared at the floor for a while, not wanting to seem soft in front of the Autobot. He knew that to any Decepticon it would only be seen as a weakness. Surely to any good soldier it would be considered such. At this point though, the other mech would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to have not already worked it out.

He didn't do it to get back at the Autobots. He didn't do it to earn his way back into the Decepticon ranks. He didn't do it for fun, or glory.

No, he did it for the same reason he killed Prowl. For the same reason he stayed sane in the many lonely quartex he spent in solitude on this mud-ball. For the same reason he defected. One, simple reason, all summed up in a single word.

"Terabyte."

Cliffjumper made no response, nor did he react in any way. But somehow, Skyquake could tell that he understood. He understood and he respected the jet for it. The olive jet resumed his thoughtful staring at the floor, planning their escape.

**Arizona: A Joor Previous**

Bumblebee glanced over his shoulder into the valley below. Optimus and Bulkhead were standing perfectly still - or well, in Bulkhead's case, lying on his face in the dust - frozen by the Immobilizer, which was currently stashed in his subspace in about a million little pieces.

Ratchet would kill him for so thoroughly breaking the ancient device. If there was anything left of him when Arcee discovered that he hadn't been able to stop Airachnid before Bulk and Optimus were Immobilized. Bumblebee heaved a worried sigh.

Optimus was like a father to him… Had been since Megatron bombed Praxus. And now he didn't even know if the kind Prime would ever be de-Immobilized.

Especially since he broke the device.

_'I needed that...' _He thought with a tiny, worried smirk. Beeping and buzzing despondently, the yellow scout's thick black optic ridges pulled down into a frown. If Ratchet couldn't fix them… Bumblebee knew it wasn't his fault. He kept reminding himself of that. But his spark wasn't buying it.

The yellow scout hiked up to the very top of the ridge and looked down to where they had left Arcee to guard Starscream. The smell of spilt life-En washed over him and his face scrunched up in disappointment and concern. He'd been hoping something like this wouldn't have happened...

Jerking his helm up, Bumblebee found he'd done so just in time to see Starscream soar off over the horizon. Arcee stood hunched over, clutching her abdomen, from which life-En was gushing freely down her side.

Oh no... **"Arcee?" **He called tentatively, letting out a few whirs and beeps of regret. He already knew the answer to what he was about to ask. Nevertheless, he asked hopefully, **"What happened? Did Starscream break free and make a run for it?"**

Venting harshly, she sighed, seeming to wilt under his gaze. Bumblebee knew that she could see how sad he was that she hadn't been able to restrain herself. "No..." Her tone suggested that she thought her next words were justification enough, "'Bee, he killed Tailgate."

Bumblebee buzzed in understanding. That was a good enough reason for him. He certainly knew that he'd have done the same in her place. **"I know what Optimus would say..."**

**"'Everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what crimes they have committed.'" **They both said in unison. Bee smiled, beeping and trilling like he always did when he laughed.

**"But, really..."** The yellow scout said, patting her shoulder gently with an encouraging round of bleeps and whirls. **"I hope you gave him what-for!"**

**Meanwhile. Nemesis, Bridge**

"You left Starscream to the Autobots?" Megatron roared into her face, his own rusted face-plates inches from hers. "Do you have any notion of the consequences of your blunder?!"

The warlord had to respect that even under the full attention of his fury, the femme at whom he was yelling stood her ground, her violet lips pursed tightly together. Her lavender optics burned bright, her tone remaining respectful as her processors no doubt rushed to find a way to pass the blame off to someone else, "But my lordship, it was _Starscream's _incompetence that cost us the Immobilizer."

Of course she would blame Starscream. Everyone on this ship knew that he found the sly, treacherous mech distasteful. They knew that just as well as they knew that usually when something went wrong it was, in fact, Starscream's fault.

But this time he knew that that was not the case. At this current point in time, the Immobilizer mattered little. It was merely a tool that might have been of use, had the Autobots not meddled.

"I don't care about some _trinket_!" Megatron spat in her face, causing her to lean back to the point that she had to use a few of her insectoid legs to support herself. "My second in command is a prisoner of the enemy, which means all Decepticon knowledge is within the Autobots' grasp!"

He glared at her, fuming. His vents heaved to keep his large and irate frame from overheating.

The purple and black arachnid's armor shrank tight to her frame as she braced herself for some form of physical punishment. Squeezing one optic shut, Airachnid took a half-step backwards.

Rising suddenly, Megatron turned his back to her, clasping his hands behind his back and snarling in disgust. Flinging one hand out in a dismissive gesture, he said, "You're pathetic, spider. Leave my presence."

"Yes my lord." She hissed respectfully, quick to oblige. "Shall I lead a rescue?"

"My patience wears thin, femme." Megatron warned with a deep growl, the warning serving as a clear enough answer for Airachnid. She made her exit post-haste.

He glared through the port-hole, schemes and plots to get his second back with no strings attached swirling through the silver warlord's helm. Starscream couldn't be trusted not to spill everything he knew if it would further his own treacherous goals. Which meant that all of Decepticon knowledge hung in the balance.

Megatron smirked. If necessary, they could always do the classic mech for mech trade... But if at all possible, he would very much rather get his mech back without giving the enemy anything of use. Energon perhaps? The Prime would not be fool enough to jump on such an offer. Not while one of his mechs was being held captive.

Soundwave would easily be able to get all the information he wanted from the red Autobot. Then, once Cliffjumper was well and truly broken and drained of intel, Megatron would propose a hostage trade. Optimus Prime would of course agree once he placed all of his terms to ensure that he wouldn't try to pull any tricks.

"I vill see ze Keeng of Cons!" A heavily accented voice announced cheerily outside. Seeming to change moods completely, the mech coldly said, "I have vaited long eenough, Veeheecon. I vill politely ashk zhat you get out of my vay."

Megatron listened with interest as the guard attempted to convince the mech that 'His Lordship' was preoccupied and would not be taking impromptu visitors. Whoever the would-be visitor was, did not take this well at all. A loud yell of outrage echoed through the ship. There was a loud crash as the guard was likely smashed into the wall, followed by the terrified sounds of a mech whose lifeline was in another's servos.

"I _shaid_, I vill see our leeader. I did not ashk you eef eet vould be conveenieent." The intruder growled, the guards pedes audible rattling against the wall. After a while longer, the guard went still. Pitiful. The unknown voice returned to the cold, calm, and collected tone. "Payrhaps next time, you vill be more heelp-full, yes?"

The silver warlord grinned, not particularly caring that the Vehicon coward had perished. It was however slightly irking that he'd now require a new guard. Megatron turned around to face the doors, waiting for this mech to enter at any moment. Purple optics glowing bright, the warlord chuckled. He liked this guy already.

The doors slid open with a hiss, revealing a large - larger than himself even, which was mildly surprising - triple-changer. Painted a simple sand color, accented with deep royal purple, the mech's face was a pale blue, adorned with a red monocle over his left optic.

Powerful jet turbines perched on his shoulders, the tank's cannons sticking up from behind his wings. Wide tank treads made up the mech's calves. It was very clear that both of the mech's alt-modes were very powerful. Soundwave's lieutenant commander had a good optic for strong soldiers. This mech would be a powerful asset.

"Eet has been quite a vhile, Lord Maygatron. How goes ze Var?" The triple-changer inquired coolly.

"The War goes well, Lieutenant Blitzwing. Much has occurred in your absence." Megatron replied, going through with the formalities.

Blitzwing's face went hard before melting into a new face completely, this one a maroon color with a red visor and a small gap in the top denta. Somehow the face of wrath maintained a relatively respectful tone, "I shoould zink, your _Graytness_, zat my 'shleep' vas razzer long... Vouldn't you agree? I zink, vith reeshpect, zat," He slammed his fists together meaningfully, "Shome _compenshation_ eez een order!"

Narrowing his optics, Megatron regarded the mech carefully, his lip-plates curling into a sneer. "Do you _really_."

"Yes, your _Lordsheep_." The tan mech responded, continuing to spit his titles like insults, not at all intimidated by the look that would have most mechs groveling at his feet, pleading forgiveness. "Sheven vorns eez a _vaary_ long time to be een sholitude on a preemitive organic vorld."

Yes. Megatron mused, he quite liked this mech.

"I see..." He said thoughtfully. He would humor the triple-changer. "What form would you expect this... compensation of yours to come in?"

Blitzwing's visor lit up briefly before his face melted into blackness, a bright red scribbled grin and large oval optics being the only color in the face. "You meean I get zoo choose? Oooh, sho many choices!"

Before Megatron could offer any suggestions - ones that would cost him little - Blitzwing's face changed back over to the main face, the one of logic. "I asshume zat Cybayrtron eez dayd by now, yes? Eet vas dyeeng vhen I leeft. So craydits vould be practeecally usheless."

"Very perceptive." Megatron commented, scowling. Credits would have been his first choice; like the mech said, credits were practically useless now.

Angry face. "Vith all due reeshpect my lord, I _vant _to shmash your rusty face een as my _compenshation_."

Megatron's scowl deepened substantially. His patience could only stretch so far before it would snap. And no one wanted to be around when he snapped. Growling lightly, his lips pulled up in a snarl, "Obviously that is not a viable form of payment, _Lieutenant_."

Crazy face. Blitzwing's scribbled grin flipped upside down, and he cocked his helm to the side, hands clasped in a pleading gesture. When he spoke his voice was whiny, "Awww... Pleease, my lord? I vould _ever_ sho enjoy eet! I vouldn't need any ozzer payment..."

"No!" The warlord barked out roughly, causing Blitzwing's face to turn sour.

"_I _zought eet shounded like an eckshellent deeal." The mech pouted, glaring at the floor as his face morphed back into anger. Glaring a hole into his spark - if he still had a spark, Megatron thought wryly - Blitzwing shouted, "Vhat elshe do you have to offer zhen?! Zat's all I vant!"

Megatron glared at the triple-changer flatly. Negotiations were failing. Logic had no standing with the insane. He growled impatiently. Negotiations were about to get very physical. This mech needed to be taught his place. Memorably.

Rising slowly, the warlord felt the Dark Energon flowing through him thrum in pleasure and anticipation. The energy was purely evil, taking joy in other's suffering, consuming his thoughts with the thrill of the hunt. He was immortal, invincible, unstoppable. He was... Megatron.

"You've stepped out of line, soldier." He said, his tone terrifyingly eager as he walked at a leisurely pace towards Blitzwing. The larger, three-faced mech shuddered noticeably. The mech's wings flicked back slightly, a sure sign of fear. Grinding out each word, he continued, "I dare say that _line_ needs to be drawn a little _clearer_. Deep enough to leave a _permanent_ _mark_."

The triple-changer took a nervous step backwards. The cold blue face appeared, twisted into a fearful grimace. "My lord... eh, I shpoke een haste..."

Jack-o-lantern, also - though perhaps not so defined - showing signs of fear. He cackled madly, "A meere jesht..." Megatron grinned as the mech's optics widened as his dorsal plates touched the wall. The warlord did not slow his pace. "Ah-hah... ha... Not sho funny, zhen?"

Megatron slammed his sword into the wall microns from Blitzwing's helm, relishing the mech's frightened squeal, his face swapping to the angry one, only a little bit wary. That would soon change though. The face of logic would soon be joined in his terror. All of his soldiers must learn respect.

This mech just happened to be a three-in-one package.

"You vish to challaynge me?!" Blitzwing roared in his face, attempting to shove him away and only succeeding in putting a few feet between them. The warlord's expression remained impassive as he tossed aside his cannon pointedly, causing Blitzwing to snarl and follow suit. "Zhen I vill show you ze _true_ meaneeng of pain, _and_ take my reevard!"

Crazy. Blitzwing pulled back his fist, swinging a full-weight punch, all the while singing to the Earth song 'London Bridge', "May-gatron eez fall-eeng dayd, fall-eeng dayd, fall-eeng dayd! May-gatron eez fall-eeng dayd, my poor Leeader!"

Growling as the younglingish tune instantly ingrained itself into his processors, repeating again and again and again, Megatron reached out with lightning fast reflexes, enhanced by the Dark En. Latching onto the larger tank-jet's wrist, the silver warlord threw his own weight, using Blitzwing's mass and momentum to double his strength, slamming the triple-changer into the metal floor with a deafening crash that rang through the bridge like a bell.

Blitzwing giggled.

Megatron blinked.

The tan and purple mech lay crushed in the dented floor, totally faceless and _giggling_.

A rather disturbing combination of all three faces meshed together into one grotesque image flickered to life on the blank face-plate, grinning loopily. "Zat vas fun... let'sh do eet agayn shometime eh, Bossh?"

Rolling his optics disgustedly, Megatron walked back to his throne, stepping harshly on Blitzwing's left wingtip as he passed, contacting Knockout boredly. That had been rather... disappointing. He'd expected more of a fight. _/You have a __**patient**__ indenting my floor, Doctor. Fix it./ _

**Next Day: Communications and Intel**

"Whazzup?" Miko's voice asked nonchalantly through Soundwave, the mech as usual choosing to speak through records.

Terabyte's black finial twitched as she replied calmly, "Everything is in good order."

More insistently, Soundwave poked a long, accusing servo at her spark chamber. Megatron's voice boomed out, "Status report, soldier!"

"All is in order." The tiny spy repeated, her tell-tale twitch continuing. "There is nothing wrong, Commander." Turning to leave, she said, "If you will excuse me, sir, I will interrogate the prisoners."

As she left, Terabyte could feel the stoic head of communication's optics boring holes through her steel gray dorsal plates. He suspected she was lying. But ever since she'd seen Skyquake, that voice in her helm had only gotten louder. And it was getting much harder to ignore, as she agreed with a lot of what it had to say.

The femme took her sweet precious time walking to the brig. She was pretty sure that this interrogation would be harder than the rest. Because she knew these mechs. And that voice was determined that they were both very real and a lot closer to her than she'd ever intended.

Terabyte frowned slightly. Speaking of the voice, she wondered if they would hear it when she synced with them through the hub. Hopefully not. An interrogator would never be successful if he/she showed any signs of weakness.

Arriving at the brig, she nodded swiftly to the Vehicon on guard duty. With a hissing pop, the energy bars went offline. "I want a sound-proof force-field around this cell, understood?"

The Vehicon pressed several buttons on his terminal and nodded. "In place, ma'am."

"Hey, TB! Wondered when you'd come visit..." The red mech hollered in a jovial voice from where he lay on a berth, kicked back in a perfectly relaxed position. Skyquake just gave her a sad little smile, nodding his helm in respect to her.

Baffled by this somewhat out-of-character action from the jet, Terabyte nodded slowly in return, reminding herself that the mech in front of her was not her Skyquake. Taking a step forward, the spy felt and heard the energy bars come back to life, the heat from them licking at her dorsal plates.

"I want you to tell me the coordinates of your base." She stated flatly. Not that she expected it to be that easy.

Ignoring her demand completely, Cliffjumper sat upright and motioned for her to take a seat beside him. She, in turn, completely ignored the gesture. He smiled, starting up conversationally, "So TB, what's new?"

"Last I checked, you were not in charge of this procedure, Autobot. I ask the questions."

"Oh," He laughed, ignoring her hard, no-nonsense tone, "Oh yeah, you're here to prove your worth as a Decepticon by beating us both within an inch of our sparks, right?"

Her face-plates pulled taut, her hidden lips pursed together. If looks could kill, he'd have been dying. "While that may be the Autobot way, _we_ are not sparkless savages."

Behind her, Skyquake growled deeply. "You lived amongst us naive and shielded, Terabyte. You never heard one of Megatron's speeches, you never attended public disciplinary beatings or executions, you have never given scourgings nor taken any... You never had a clue what the Decepticons really are."

"And I would be all the wiser to trust the word of a dead mech?" She retorted testily, her finials pinned back in annoyance. He's not dead, the locked side of her mind grumbed. It went on to inform her that she would not hurt either of them. In fact, she would even help them escape. Terabyte snorted at the voice, "Yeah right. Good luck with that one, Voice."

Cliffjumper and Skyquake both stood up, giving her worried looks. The red Autobot shielded his mouth with one hand and leaned over confidentially, whispering not-so-quietly, "Was it just me, or is she talking to herself here?"

Terabyte glared at him, her tone flat. "Was it just me or is she standing right in front of you?"

Both mechs were still not paying too much attention to her. The spy sighed. Fine. She'd just have to get their attention by more... direct methods. They were prisoners here, and it seemed they needed a little reminder of that.

"...ot working. Now we do it your way." Skyquake said, not sounding like he much approved of whatever Cliffjumper's plan for whatever was.

Right as, in a blur of black and red, Terabyte lunged forward to slam Cliffjumper back into his seat with enough force to put him in his place, the red mech's hand struck out to catch her wrist, his other fist flying towards her helm. She'd hardly realized what had happened before her frame began to go limp in Clffjumper's arms.

He caught her gently as Terabyte's stiff, flared frame went completely limp. Cliffjumper sighed heavily and studied the calm expression on what he could see of her face. She seemed so tiny when she was relaxed... So young.

Skyquake's engine whined quietly beside him and the red mech nodded his helm, trying to bring his thoughts back to their plan. He'd hoped that the olive jet's idea of reasoning with her had worked. He really hadn't wanted to have knock her out. But things rarely went the way he wanted.

"Did you have to hit her so hard?" Skyquake growled at him, his wings hunched forward in concern.

The jet was so protective of her. Cliff wondered just how long the mech had been protecting her in the Decepticon ranks. Apparently for as long as she'd been a 'Con. Skyquake was as much her bodyguard as he was her friend. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of femme Terabyte would have been if it weren't for the jet.

Though in all honesty, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say he was getting a glimpse of that every time he looked at the twisted En-thirsty femme the 'Cons had made her to be.

"If I'd hit her any gentler, I'd be on the floor with half my chassis in her fists." The Autobot muttered quietly. He didn't doubt it either. The little femme was a skilled fighter. Most two-wheelers were. Big punches packed into little fists.

The olive jet chuckled knowingly, "Very true, little mech, very true."

"Aww, c'mon!" Cliffjumper moaned good-naturedly, a grin taking form on his own face, "I do have a name, Jetbrain. Besides, I'm not little. You're just, like, the 'Jumbo' version of Starscream."

The battle-class jet scowled indignantly, smirking all the while, "Now that was just downright nasty."

He laughed, bending down to hoist Terabyte's limp frame over his shoulder. Grunting slightly, he got her half-way up before she slid down to the floor again.

"Sweet Unicron, she weighs as much as Bumblebee!" Cliffjumper exclaimed, having been unprepared for her slight frame to be so dense. It was by no means beyond his abilities to lift her, he just hadn't been expecting lifting her to be comparable to lifting Bee.

Bending down for another attempt, Skyquake pushed him aside lightly. Or at least he figured the jet thought he was being gentle. Cliffjumper fell back hard on the numb pede, sending a spike of red hot pain searing up the limb. Biting back a hiss, Cliffjumper backed away, throwing up a smile.

"I'll go ahead and leave you to carry your femme then... and I'll fight our way outta here, right?"

Skyquake growled at him again, hoisting Terabyte over his shoulder with surprising amounts of care. "Terabyte is her own femme, as I'm sure she'd be quite eager to inform you. And I can fight one-handed twice as well as you could normally."

Cliffjumper snorted, "You wanna bet on that?"

"What are the stakes?" The olive mech replied with a smirk, raising one optic ridge in question.

"Winner gets the big berth for a month." He replied instantly, his frame stiff from long nights in the nook of his berthroom. "Loser gets... A month's inventory duty for Ratch'."

"Ouch..." The jet muttered, sneering, "Sounds fair... May the best mech win."

He nodded, his smug, beaming expression flickering slightly as he turned to stare at the blue energy bars still providing a very unforgiving wall of crackling electricity. "So. Now that we've settled those issues of great importance... We forgot to get the comm frequency before knocking her out."

"Correction: _You _forgot to get the comm frequency before knocking her out." Skyquake informed him flatly, his ruby optics dimming as he tried to think of ways out of this mess.

Cliffjumper groaned, flopping down onto the hard, purple-tinted berth. This was just lovely. Absolutely _grand_. Now they were effectively trapped, no closer to freedom than before, only now they were trapped with a rather high-ranked - and rather unconscious - Decepticon femme.

"Are you saying that you've got the frequency somehow?" He asked, annoyed.

"Well..." The jet averted his gaze, admitting somewhat guiltily, "No... I was just ensuring we both knew that I am in no way at fault here."

"Sure. Thanks." Cliffjumper grumbled sarcastically, rolling his optics and poking around mindlessly at his half-silver pede. "I'm glad we got that ironed out. It really brought us closer to getting out of this stupid purple prison."

At least the top half was the same color as the rest of him, even if didn't look the same. And he had to admit that the new pede looked cool in some weird, disfigured way. It looked almost Decepticon in design, all edges and points as opposed to the softer, rounded Autobot style.

Skyquake didn't respond for a while, opting to try glaring a hole through the floor. After several klicks, he began to wonder if the jet was actually making progress. That was how sharp his glare was.

Finally, the olive mech gasped, practically bouncing, "Why didn't I think of that earlier!"

"Think of what?"

The jet ignored him completely, ruby optics dimming as he commed someone. After a moment, the bars went down with a fizzle and a pop, a Vehicon poking his helm around the corner. Before Cliffjumper could do more than stand up, Skyquake had punched the mech in the face, smashing the visor and sending the mech into the wall with a thud.

Skyquake shrugged, his optics grinning in challenge as he tore the other guard's helm off. "Two. Guard said our weapons are stashed two levels up. Try to keep up, little mech."

He snarled, pushing past the jet and jogging in a direction he hoped would eventually have a lift. Turning left at a junction, Cliffjumper sucker-punched the Vehicon that came strolling into him, throwing the purple mech into his two buddies, knocking them out against the wall.

"Three!" He hollered triumphantly. Hearing a crash and no response from the jet, he turned around.

Down the opposite hall, unconscious Vehicons were strewn all along the walls, mostly in piles of two or three. Some Cliffjumper doubted would ever wake up. Scowling, he followed the trail Skyquake had left behind.

Reaching a lift, Cliffjumper glared at the jet who was leaning casually against the lift with Terabyte still slung over his shoulder, one hand around her knees to keep her from falling. Beside him, a couple more Vehicons were slumped against the wall.

"Seventeen." The jet greeted with a grin. "You?"

Cliffjumper spun around and sharply kicked the mech behind him that was stirring groggily.

"_Four_." He spat sullenly.

"That one was already down!" Skyquake protested, straightening and calling a lift.

Cliffjumper gave him 'The Look'. Which was ignored by its recipient. "Aww, c'mon, mech. He was still moving. Besides..." Pulling up the ultimate, turbo-puppy face, Cliff continued, "You can't say no to this face."

The jet kept a perfectly straight face, "No. Doesn't count. No, no, no."

The red mech laughed. He'd probably lose this bet. Actually, make that almost certainly. But he had to respect the mech. He respected anyone who could resist both 'The Look' and the turbo-puppy face after two orns without recharge. Prime went into that category. So did Arcee. Usually.

Maybe this guy wasn't half-bad after all.

**Half an Hour Later.**

"Twenty-six, and that's my final." The jet said gruffly, shifting Terabyte to his other shoulder as they ran towards the bridge Cliffjumper had requested, dodging enemy weapons-fire as they went. "How 'bout you, little mech?"

Okay. Scrap three breems ago. This mech was horrible. Cliffjumper repressed the urge to punch Skyquake in the face and claim victory. The only reason he was able to repress said urge was because he knew that if he did that, Optimus would probably make him carry both of them all the way back to base as punishment.

Emerging back at base, the swirling emerald portal shut down as soon as they were through. Cliffjumper mumbled sourly, "Thirteen."

"That's convenient." Skyquake commented smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. Congrats, Jetbrain." He muttered. Smiling brightly, he finished, "You've made it official! You actually are capable of multi-tasking!"

The mech smirked, "Oh, sure. You're just a sore loser, little mech."

Cliffjumper ignored him and looked around for their welcoming party. The whole main chamber was deserted. Ratchet had left the room as soon as they'd arrived and was over in the med-bay tinkering. No one else was anywhere to be found. A little mop was lying on the floor in front of the bridge.

"Hello?" He asked. No response. Lip-plates twitching downward for a moment, Cliffjumper hummed. "That's weird. Heell-looo?"

Still nothing. "Hey, Doc? Where is everyone?"

The medic huffed. "Out."

Cliffjumper was about to holler back something about how amazingly helpful and informative that reply was when Skyquake's engine let out a low rumble.

"We can worry about them later..." The army green jet grunted, kneeling down to lay Terabyte down gently on the cool concrete floor. "She's waking up."


	36. Rude Awakenings

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 36**

**Rude Awakenings**

_She watched the jets and Seekers flying their intricate formations with perfect precision. Not a single flier was even a micron out of sync. The clouds parted around them, stretching back in articulate swirls and spirals in their wake. _

_It was a habit of hers, watching the fliers. They had such freedom up there. Nothing to bind them to one place, the whole world was in their reach. Her very spark and Energon sang with longing. She wanted to join them._

_Most grounders like herself, despised heights, feared them even. Whenever the choice was travel by land or air, they would always choose land, even when air would be safer - logically anyhow. Grounders stayed grounded. Flying was for the birds. _

_This is what she told herself every time she watched them fly, or every time her shoulder-wheels spun in their sockets to shake off the itch of wing-bind. Her wheels would tingle whenever she saw the sky. As if they could somehow carry her through the clouds. She would try to convince herself that she didn't actually wish she could fly. Flying was for the birds._

_But the little Prussian blue and black spy had never been like most grounders. She was a grounder in frame, but a flier at spark. Love of the wide sky was buried deep in her core programming. And it hurt. She wanted so bad to fly that it hurt. _

_Her sire had been a battle-class jet. She'd always wanted to be a jet, or a Seeker at least, but Vector Sigma had rarely given a Protihexian a spark able to sustain such large frames. Thus, Protihexians were known as the little people. They just didn't __**get**__ big._

_In spite of this, her parents had given her the flier's programming. Which made sense through a parent's optics. Fear of heights was one of the grounders' biggest weaknesses. The flier's programming all but eliminated that weakness._

_/Terabyte!/ Skyquake sent, breaking her musing. /Still online down there?/_

_She shook her helm slightly to bring herself back to the present, /Yes, why?/_

_/Checked your comm. logs recently?/ _

_Oh. Whoops. He'd been trying to talk to her for nearly half a groon. And she hadn't even noticed. Sheepishly, she responded, /Sorry... I was just thinking./_

_Above her the fleet dipped down into a spiraling dive in perfect unison before shooting off at the last moment, each flier in a different direction. The sonic boom and the roar of engines shook the little femme on her pedes._

_Moments later, the olive jet transformed mid-air, landing with a light thump a few meters away from her. Walking towards her, he laughed. "What about? It must have been deep."_

_"Not really. Just..." She shrugged her shoulder wheels, "Flying."_

_"You want to, don't you." He stated softly, gazing up at the perfect clear skies. "It's in your optics."_

_Shuttering her optics briefly, the femme sighed bitterly, "But I can't. And I never will."_

_"Maybe I can help with that..." The jet said, grinning at her, a mischievous twinkle in his ruby optics._

_She shook her black helm gently, her finials tilted at a depressed angle. "It isn't physically possible. My spark can't take the weight of a flier's frame. I asked Alpha Trion when he upgraded me three vorns ago."_

_His ruby optics went wide for a moment, his jaw hanging partially agape. "You're only three vorns past youngling?"_

_The spy's lips pulled into an 'o' behind her mask, which was only up because they were outside in public. Very public, public. And technically, she was supposed to be still in her last youngling frame. Not to mention after final youngling frame, she technically still had two femme-ling frames before adult. Traditionally, she still had at least eleven vorns until she would be considered ready for her final upgrade to an adult frame._

_Yet here she was._

_He wasn't incredibly old himself, but he'd at least been upgraded at the normal age... Compared to him, she was just a kid, a whiny little kid with emotional issues. She wondered how he would take that. How much that would change things. After all, he basically just discovered that his best friend was a sparkling. _

_"I- I thought I'd already told you that..." She winced at how pitiful she sounded, her voice cracking slightly. Her shoulder wheels slumped._

_"No..." He trailed off before a horrified expression crossed his faceplates as he no doubt guessed what was going through her mind. "I mean... no. I don't care, Tera. And you shouldn't take some old Autobot bolt-helm's word for fact. You can and will fly... Today."_

_Skyquake transformed into his jet-mode and rolled forward a little bit. She just stared at him, not sure what in the world he was doing._

_"Well?" He rumbled promptingly, "Get on!"_

_Still confused, the spy did as asked, just barely getting settled and feeling a little bit strange. Before she could really piece it all together, his engines roared as he lifted off, slicing through the air like a solar hawk. _

_She screamed, hanging on for her life as they ascended faster than her unpracticed processors could calculate. She'd never gone so fast, or high... It was terrifying. It was amazing! Once the shock dissipated a little, she dared to sit up, hanging on only with her pedes._

_Whooping, screaming, and laughing, the little femme raised her hands up in the air, feeling the sharp, cold breeze rushing around her, through her. Her spark was quivering with joy and excitement._

_She could __**fly**__! _

Her processors whirred to life, battle protocols spinning instantly into action. She was on her feet, fists swinging, fusion cannon charging up, before all of her systems were even really online.

Blood red optics came online to reveal her cannon pressed into Skyquake's chest, Cliffjumper staggering nearby with a dent in his helm the size of her fist. Her vents heaved as she contemplated whether or not to kill them both. Voice said no: friends. Processors said yes: Autobots.

Audials came on to register Cliffjumper shouting, "Ratchet! Get us a sedative or something, now!"

Skyquake was saying calming words, which she chose to ignore lest they persuade her. Shoving away from the green jet, she snarled and leapt towards Cliffjumper. He was why she was here right now with a killer helm-ache.

Her red energy dagger shot out of her right arm as she swung at his spark. The Autobot reflexively lashed out in an offensive block, his arm hitting the flat of her blade. The force of her blow combined with his block caused the dagger to snap, shattering deep in her forearm, making Terabyte let out an audial-rending shriek of pain.

She wasn't even entirely sure why she was fighting. She'd gone offline with her battle protocols online, so when she woke up they were still online, urging her to fight. She didn't really have much of a reason to be fighting, but she was on their base, surrounded by the murderers. It was kill-or-be-killed and her processors were in no hurry to figure out why.

Nevertheless, as life-En ran down her dagger-arm, dripping from the tips of her servos, the little spy would not allow herself to be captured again. She would not fall prey to the Autobots.

Staggering back, her arm screaming pain, error messages flashing on her HUD declaring a breached primary power line, Terabyte gritted her fanged denta in determination. She ran full-speed towards Cliffjumper in a collision course, throwing her frame to the floor at the last moment, sliding between his pedes to kick him sharply behind the knees.

The mech whirled too late, slamming to the ground as his pedes were knocked out of underneath him. Leaping to her own feet, Terabyte sprung into the air to land hard on his dorsal plates as he was beginning to rise, smashing him face-first into the cement floor. Using her current momentum to shove off him, the tiny femme shot the medic in the foot as he hurried to get close to her with the sedative.

"Skyquake!" The red mech roared from behind her, "Do something!"

Ratchet bit back a string of insults, dodging her shot by a few inches, and tripping in the process.

But Terabyte didn't even slow for an astrosecond. Running straight towards the medic, she threw herself down into a roll, dodging several blasts from the red and white medic's stun gun. The electrical pulse from those things was nasty. But she was not going to be sedated. And that meant taking the medic out of the picture.

Rising swiftly, she leapt up, her fist swinging towards the mech's faceplate in a heavy punch, weighted with her whole frame. Her steel gray fist smashed into his face with a resounding clang.

The medic just gave her a flat stare. "Nice try, femme-bot."

The black and midnight blue femme glanced down at the steel gray armor of her upper arm. Protruding from the small gap between armor plates was a syringe. An empty syringe. She felt her processor functions getting steadily slower, her whole frame relaxing against her will.

She gave a weak, loopy giggle. That was a _strong_ sedative. Most sedatives hardly affected her. By how she felt, it must've been enough to knock out the Lord Protector.

Her vision was getting kind of blurry... Huh. Last she checked Ratchet hadn't been pink and chartreuse... That was a weird paint-job. Very subtle.

Skyquake watched as all the tension in her frame just melted instantly, her pedes slipping from under her, leaving the well-and-truly passed-out femme laying on her side in a heap on the floor at Ratchet's feet.

Glaring at the medic, the jet was at Terabyte's side in moments, kneeling beside her to examine her injured arm. Her energy blade had shattered inside her arm, the shards slicing through primary energy lines and wiring, shredding into the protoform.

"How much of that stuff did you give her?!" Skyquake growled as he noticed just how dim her bio-lights had gone. He'd never seen them so dim. Even when she was recharging or in stasis, her bio-lights glowed a little. Now it was as though they'd shut down completely.

"Enough to knock the fight out of her for a good week or so, hopefully." Ratchet responded gruffly, scooping the femme up and lugging her off to the med-bay, Skyquake close at his heels.

"A _week_?!" The jet bellowed, slamming the med-bay door behind him. The action was closely followed by an angry, pained yelp. But Skyquake didn't really care. It wasn't like it was his fault Cliffjumper happened to be right there.

"She's a _Protihexian two-wheeler_! You can't just give her a normal mech's dosage! You can't even just give her a normal two-wheeler's dosage! What are you trying to do, kill her?!"

Ratchet set Terabyte down carefully before whirling around and smacking him upside the helm with a Cybertronian wrench. Multiple times. "You're right! I _can't _just give her a _normal_ mech's dosage! It wouldn't be _enough_! I _can't _just give her a normal _two-wheeler's_ dosage, 'cause that's twice the normal and it _still wouldn't have been enough_! _Because_ she's a _Protihexian_ two-wheeler!"

Cliffjumper walked in, rubbing his face-plate. Stepping right into their conversation, apparently unperturbed by the beating Skyquake had just gotten, the red mech said with a casual shrug, "You've known TB for how many vorns now? A dozen at least? You ought to know that by now. The smaller they are, the tougher they get."

He just glared at both of them. They were right. It was probably enough sedative to keep Megatron down for an orn. He snorted, "We'll be lucky if she's not up in a couple rotations."

"Precisely." Ratchet said huffily. The medic seemed upset that he didn't get to yell and thwack mechs for longer than he had. He seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed it. "Which'll hopefully give me long enough to figure out just how much Soundwave managed to screw up in that helm of hers."

Skyquake stood over Terabyte's inert frame, watching her with gentle optics. Her armor had relaxed completely to her frame, making her seem so small. Sure she usually stayed relaxed when she was with him and others weren't watching her, but still even he - after knowing her and spending almost every orn of five vorns with her - even he forgot so easily just how small she was. Even Skyquake had to be reminded that she stood only to his mid-riff.

Remembering the presence of others, and feeling their curious gazes, the fighter jet narrowed his optics, forcing a hard look into his ruby gaze.

"When will you begin, Medic?"

Said medic subspaced his wrench swiftly, staring down at his unconscious and leaking patient. By his expression, Ratchet too had just been painfully reminded of her size. It was even more of a shock so soon after the fight the little midnight colored femme had just put up.

"As soon as I can get her to stop leaking." Ratchet snapped, shooting the red mech responsible for her injuries a glare that made Cliffjumper wilt. Which was quite a feat in and of itself.

Cliffjumper wilted under the doc's withering gaze, his spark already plaguing him with remorse. He hadn't meant to shatter her blade half-way up her thin steel gray arm. In the heat of battle he'd not been thinking about her size, or how much force would be too much. Especially since, as Ratchet had said, she was by no stretch of the imagination weak.

He really hadn't wanted to hurt her. After all, he had already adopted her in his mind. She was the little sister he'd never had. At least never knew if he had. Shortly after he joined the Academy, the War began. His parents had jetted off with the neutrals. He hoped maybe one day he'd meet them again, but the way the war was going, that didn't seem too near in his future.

But the doc was right to be glaring at him just the way he was. And the hulking jet over there certainly had the right to be glaring at him like he was a dead glitch-mouse in the bottom of his Energon. Because that was about how he felt at the moment. Sure, the feisty little spy had knocked the wind from his vents, and jumped on his back, which now hurt like anything. But the femme that was now leaking in front of him had done little more than bruise his back and pride.

And she wasn't even in her right processors. Soundwave had messed around in there who-knows-how-much.

"Doc, this is my fault. I'll fix it. You get TB back in her right mind." Cliffjumper said solemnly.

The medic's optics burned bright with anger, armor puffed up and hands twitching for the wrench he'd just subspaced. Stomping up to him, Ratchet slammed an accusing finger into his chest-plate, yelling, "Oh, you don't know just _how_ right you are, Cliffjumper! This," He waved a hand at the unconscious femme on the berth behind him, "This is definitely your fault. Stupid, unnecessary injuries, costing us resources we _don't_ have! But what you don't get is just _how badly you've hurt her_! This isn't something you know how to fix!"

Just then, a large gray hand landed on each of their shoulders, flinging medic and red warrior apart with a low growl that rung in their audials for several klicks. "_Enough_!"

Having caught both Cliffjumper and Ratchet's attention, the green fighter jet snarled, "We all know this is his fault!"

Cliffjumper yet again wilted at the accusing servo thrust at him.

"So yelling at each other over how _much_ it's his fault doesn't change that her life-En is now dripping onto the floor, because you're too busy _stating the obvious to do anything about it_!"

The red mech glanced at Ratchet before staring at the floor, which - as Skyquake had pointed out - was now damp with the life-En still flowing from her right arm. He was right. They were being childish. At Terabyte's expense. And they were wasting the precious time in which she was unconscious.

"Now if you'll _excuse me_," Skyquake hissed, his whole frame strung tight as he restrained an amount of anger that was visibly painful to keep in check. The jet's ruby gaze seemed to burn everything it touched, "I'm going to go slag your training arena before I'm unable to resist the urge to _murder you both _in ways neither of you _perfect little Autobots _could ever imagine."

And with that, Cliffjumper stared after the quickly retreating sound of pede-falls, sincerely hoping that the huge crashing sounds of breaking objects that accompanied his pede-falls wasn't anything too important. And he continued to stare for a good while. He'd honestly expected the jet to tear them to shreds before stomping off.

Without another word, Ratchet set to fixing the damage that he, Cliffjumper, had caused. The red Autobot meanwhile slid open a panel on his left wrist, making his way to the other side of Terabyte, gently unclasping the mini fusion cannon perched on her left forearm. Taking a moment to examine the intricate gold decorative attachments that matched her golden joints perfectly, Cliffjumper set it aside and slid open the panel on her wrist revealing a single dataport and a thin clear cord.

Unwinding his own cord, Cliffjumper glanced at Ratchet. "I'll start with this then, scout out the territory, if you will. Ah... You do realize that she'll rip our minds to shreds if she wakes up while we're in there right? Maybe this isn't such a great idea...?"

The medic huffed, continuing to wipe her life-En from the steel gray armor he'd taken from her wounded arm. Cliff waited for another breem, hoping for Ratchet to provide a solution. But the solution never came. All he got from Ratchet was a look that said, 'the only reason you're not dead is that Terabyte likes you and your presence might give us a chance'.

So with a deep breath, the red mech slipped his cord into the port on her wrist, mentally prepared to get creamed.

Instead of being greeted with a giant, overly complicated wall of code he'd never be able to figure out, Cliffjumper found himself standing - in a manner of speaking - on the _inside_ of her firewalls. Glancing over his shoulder, the mech watched the wall he was expecting rapidly seal over the small opening that he'd apparently come through.

Subconsciously, Terabyte had let him in, but he wasn't going to relax just yet. Because she'd made it very clear earlier that she'd love to see his helm on a pike. At least part of her wanted to anyhow. And he wanted to make it out of here sane.

Dashing aside his slight confusion, he shrugged and looked around curiously. And then his jaw hit the silver streets of Protihex in all its glory. Beautiful towers curved and twisted to the clouds and probably a good way beyond, walled with glittering panes of gold-tinted glass.

Diamonds, sapphires, and rubies grew in sparkling clumps beneath the perfectly placed rows of jade and obsidian trees. The sweet smell of fresh Protihexian silver drops filled his olfactory sensors, making his tanks rumble. People Terabyte must have known walked the streets, their bright, happy smiles and cheerful laughter made his spark ache.

All of Cybertron had once been like this. Vorns ago. He'd seen the rubble of Protihex, and the abominations Shockwave left beneath it. But as far as she knew or cared, this was their fault.

He walked slowly, awed by the perfect accuracy of her memory. And she lost this so young, yet the memory had been painstakingly preserved. The reminder it must be to her. To constantly see it in her mind so clearly. Cliffjumper couldn't keep the wave of sadness from washing through her mind.

She'd done this on purpose.

To have that constant reminder of what she thought _they _had taken from her. No wonder she was so set on killing the Wreckers. Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were the only ones left of that original team. He wondered if Terabyte knew that. Or if she was still hunting for Springer and Inferno as well.

It was a very good thing that Magnus wasn't here though. She may be able to restrain herself when it came to Jackie... But the red warrior could feel her hate even while she was so completely drugged into oblivion. The big, hammer-wielding commander would be too much for her self-restraint.

Cliffjumper shook himself. Mission. Right. Fix whatever that 'Con did to her. Get the little femme that was beginning to trust him back.

_No matter what the cost?_ A voice sneered at him from somewhere in the crowd. The red mech whirled around, trying to find the source. _That's how the Autobots work, isn't it?_

Just as quickly as he'd spun around, the beautiful city turned gray, the buildings lying in crumbled, shattered heaps. Cliffjumper choked on his next vent of air as his vents filled with ash and smoke and the smell of burnt life-En that made him want to purge.

Grayed frames lay where they'd been offlined, crushed under rubble, impaled on sharp spikes that had once been the tops of majestic spires. Broken, golden glass glittered on the ground, mocking the beauty there had once been.

The owner of the voice laughed such a cold, broken laugh that it made the normally unswayed warrior shiver to his very core. Which only made the laugh continue. And yet he couldn't find the source.

_Do you feel it yet? The __**pain**__ in your spark? The __**guilt**__ as you realize the horrors that your beloved Autobots committed? As you see it with your own optics? You wanna hear 'em __**scream**__? You wanna hear their pleas for Primus to spare them? How about the wails of the bonded as their mates go off in their arms?_

_T-Terabyte?_ He called, rage building in him. Cliffjumper's engines growled deeply. If Shockwave somehow managed to survive that explosion when he and 'Cee came to Earth... the red mech swore he'd rip that mech's spark out through that single calculating red optic of his. _Is that you?_

_Well, duh._ The voice replied. He could practically see her rolling her optics. Yet the voice wasn't quite right. It was just a little bit off. _Whose brain did you think you were in, genius?_

_I just want to... talk. _Oh yeah. Great. Cliffjumper rolled his optics at himself. That didn't sound at all conspicuous. He was just going for a stroll down her memory lane.

_Enough sedatives to put the Lord Protector out for a week, your doc said? Just to __**talk**__. Nice. _

_Whoa, hang up a sec! _Cliffjumper said, still wandering through the ruins trying to find her. _I didn't say anything about that!_

Her oddly wrong voice giggled like a sparkling. _You sound waaay smarter when I can't hear your thoughts, mech._

This was getting nowhere. And where in the world was this femme? How big could her brain be? Surely he'd find her around here somewhere...

_You connected directly to my processor, Autobot. No hub. No one-way sync. So I just thought I'd go for a bit o' sight-seeing through __**your **__helm__. I'm sure you don't mind? But for sake of time, I'll just come see you face to face._

_That would be helpful._ Cliffjumper said, trying unsuccessfully to hide his frustration.

A small servo tapped his hip patiently to get his attention, startling him into jumping back with blasters leveled on the offender's spark.

Or rather, the air a couple feet above the offender's little blue helm. Blinking a couple times, the mech slowly looked down at the yellow and Prussian blue youngling. Hardly upgraded to second youngling frame by all appearances. Like within an orn of having been upgraded.

Her left arm was dislocated and hung limp at her side, her armor scratched, dented, and covered in life-En mixed with ashes. She stood with her body weight on one pede, keeping the other badly dented pede relaxed. One of those newly installed finials was bent at the tip.

Cliffjumper took an astonished step backwards, stumbling over the rubble as he did so. The youngling just raised an optic ridge. _You expecting someone else? _

As she spoke, two other versions of Terabyte appeared on either side of her. One was the Prussian blue and black two-wheeler that wore the shiny red Autobot insignia on her belt-plate, mask up and yellow optics gentle, but guarded. The other was the femme with midnight coloring, weapons charged and a deep red aura around her, all her bio-lights were shining so bright with rage.

_Was it one of us?_ They asked simultaneously. The youngling smirked up at his confused expression. Now all three Terabytes spoke, _We're all Terabyte... So get talking before I tear your mind to shreds and leave you to hope your medic's good at what he does._

_But... you let me in... _Cliffjumper pointed out, his processors not following the strangeness all too well.

_What? I did no such thing, Autobot. You broke in here and now you're going to say whatever you came to say and get out before I make you. _Her three very different voices all hissed in unison.

She had no recollection of letting him in. Which meant this was going to be rather more difficult. _I'm here to help. You've got to trust me._

_Noble Autobots that kidnap me, sedate me, and now most likely have me strapped to a medical berth while you hack me. I am to trust that all that was for my own good, right?_

_Yes! _He said excitedly, her sarcasm going straight over his helm. _Soundwave messed around in your helm when he kidnapped you and made you forget everything important. You've got to let me help you break through his lock!_

All three Terabytes face-palmed. _Yep. I could've sworn you were more intelligent. But I have to give you credit, you do a fantastic job hiding just how dumb you are behind that annoying grin of yours. Let's get this straight, mech. My mind, my rules. I don't __**have **__to let you do anything. And whatever's behind that mental block is my problem not-_

For a moment he didn't see what had her spinning around with a look of sheer terror on all three of the versions of her faceplate. The two masked versions dropped their masks in shock and fear, at the same time the three sets of armor clamped down as tightly as possible. Her biolights - red and yellow - were completely shielded from view as every gap in her armor was sealed as it pressed tightly to her.

And then the medic's presence washed across to him.

She was so scared. Of Ratchet. Of an Autobot medic. The very medic that had saved his life and others' so many more times than he could count.

_H-h-how did __**y-you**__ get in here? _She stuttered, backing away from the medic in sheer terror.

_You let me in... _Ratchet responded, confused and spark-broken by her reaction to him.

The femme shook her helm vigorously, the youngling and the angry versions of her melting away, leaving only the Terabyte they knew. She continued backing away from Ratchet, ignoring the soothing vibes that Cliffjumper was sending her. It hurt to see her like this.

He felt a light bump against his chest-plate as the little femme backed right into him. She let out a little squeak as she realized she'd backed herself into a corner. Her shivering frame stood there, leaning against him slightly, standing at her full height, her helm just level with his shoulder.

_Good one, Doc._ Cliffjumper muttered, laying a gentle hand on her trembling shoulder wheel, continuing to send calm thoughts towards her. Their surroundings had changed suddenly again, leaving them standing in a small grove of a jade forest. Even in the state she was in, her mind kept the mental charade so real that he felt... well, he could feel his servos and frame as though he were actually standing in this forest.

Seeming to teleport, the femme disappeared from under his hand, reappearing nestled against the stump of the furthest jade tree, arms wrapped around pedes curled up tight to her chest. Her engine whimpered, her left finial twitching like mad as she whispered repeatedly to herself that they weren't really in her mind.

That she was safe.

With a twinge of pain in his spark, Cliffjumper connected a few dots. Her finial twitched when she was lying. And now she was trying to convince herself that she was okay. And as far as she was concerned, it was a lie.

_What? _Ratchet snapped at him, _All I did was show up. How was I supposed to know her mind was conscious and utterly terrified of me? _

_I don't know, but I was making progress! _The red mech snapped back.

The medic snorted. _Sounded more to me like she was complimenting your stupidity and threatening to fragment your mind beyond repair._

Cliffjumper watched Terabyte with sad optics as she sat there, curled up, trying to convince herself that the two Autobots - one of which was a medic - that were in her processor weren't about to tear her mind apart in the most painful way possible, stealing everything she knew.

She'd never had more than one other mind in hers at one time. Now she had two Autobots in her mind. They had got past her highly-advanced firewalls with no effort at all, claiming she'd _allowed_ them to come in, when she'd done no such thing.

It was bad enough having one untrustworthy Autobot in her helm. But now there was another untrustworthy Autobot. Not only an Autobot, but also a medic. And that just made him twice as bad, and thrice the more reason for her to know they were going to kill her.

Their mental presences pressed so hard against her, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her mind was so full it hurt. Terabyte rocked back and forth, clutching her knees to her chest, telling herself that she wasn't about to be murdered from the inside out.

So this was how the Autobots took care of their prisoners that didn't immediately beg to join them. She'd heard all the horror-stories, but this was so much worse than she'd ever imagined. And they hadn't even got started yet.

Not only did she have the two enemy mechs in her helm, she also had that voice in the back of her mind telling her to listen to what they had to say. That they wouldn't hurt her. She fought back all of her fear and doubts and stood up swiftly, visibly surprising the Autobots invading her mind.

_I don't know how you got here, or what you are here for. And honestly, since you can both already tell, I'm going to be perfectly blunt with you. _She said, trying to force her armor to puff out. And failing. _I'm terrified beyond reason because I currently have two Autobots invading my brain, one of which is a medic, who knows very well the best ways to make your presence as... unpleasant as possible. _

She hissed, letting out her weapons and taking slow steps towards them. _But know this, if you don't get out of my helm right now, I will make sure that __**none**__ of us make it out of my helm alive. Are we clear?_

Cliffjumper opened his mouth, one hand raised to calm her, comforting feelings and thoughts rolling off him in a way that made some of whatever was locked away in the corner of her mind push against its bonds. _TB, we're here to he- _

_I said, _She bit out, shoving back the curiosity at what felt like a locked up memory, _Are we clear?_

_Crystal. _The two Autobots replied instantly. Ratchet looked at her with narrowed optics, _Now. You've had your say, I'll have mine._

In spite of his forceful, no-nonsense tone, the medic appeared to be waiting for her permission. She received confirmation of this in the form of his thoughts which were, surprisingly, openly accessible to her. She didn't know why she let him have his say. She wasn't sure why her masked helm nodded firmly. Or why she didn't just fulfil her word and start shredding their minds.

But nod is all she did.

Maybe it was the voice getting to her. Maybe the commanding tone the medic used rang too close to a fatherly order for her to refuse. In any case, she would blame it on one of those. She was no longer aware of their shifting surroundings. Her memories were continually shifting from one setting to another.

Her quarters in Kaon, her child-hood apartment, the crumbled shack and her remembered self crying into Skyquake as they sat before the thoroughly dead frame of Pyro - earning a rather tense, disgusted, and angry vibe from the Autobots - the obsidian forest with the 'Terror Twins' stalking closer... The list rolled on.

_That voice in the back of your mind... You have no control of it, do you. _Ratchet stated frankly, instantly knowing that he'd captured her attention by the second word. She scowled at the confident, secure feeling passively emanating from the two alien presences in her helm.

_It speaks when it will and you cannot silence it. And it is surrounded by a firewall of code that not even your skilled mind can tackle on its own. _

A smug smirk that - since they could feel her every thought - was unhidden by her mask crept to Terabyte's face. The medic, in spite of his best efforts, couldn't hide the sheer awe at her processor power. She didn't think she was anything special, but she was at least decently intelligent. Enough to earn their respect anyhow...

Ratchet seemed a little distracted, outside concerns and worries seeping through the connection. Every now and then he would just freeze up as he did something in the real world. Something about the pink-helmed squishy and thingamabobs.

_I am a medic, as y-_

She cut him off with a snarl. _As if you needed to remind me. '__**Medic**__' is nothing more than a politically correct term for '__**trained butcher**__'. You can't trust a medic. Not if you want to wake up._

Cliffjumper's expression was soft, pained even. In a second he had appeared at her side, one gentle hand inches from her shoulder as he - wisely - hesitated to touch her in her current mood. His tone held a quiet, unspoken plea. _You can trust __**me**__, right?_

Terabyte snorted. She wasn't in the mood for any of this, really. Recharge hadn't happened since the moment she noticed the locked sector of her mind, nor had she refueled in longer than she ought to have. She didn't have the time or mental power to waste on something as menial as refueling.

_You can trust me... Trust me... _His words echoed annoyingly in her helm for all to hear. The voice seemed to raise an optic ridge at her, again reminding her of how not so foreign the voice might be. It smirked, _Well duh. Why wouldn't you trust him?_

She growled. The growl deepened as she failed to come up with a reason not to. His bright, sky blue optics - the exact shade of blue that Smokey's were - were so hopeful...

_"I'm ready fo' school now. I'll go with you, and you'll see me 'tween every class, and at recess. I'm a big mech now, all growed up; I c'n take care o' myself... 'Sides," The white youngling winked at her, his deep blue accents sparkling in the light. "You can trust me, right?"_

_The gold and blue femmeling had her hands on her hips. She loved her little Smokey... She just didn't want him to get hurt... _

_His bright, sky blue optics gazed up at her, seeming to pierce into her spark, melting her resolve - and the firm, logical explanation of why he couldn't - into a useless puddle. His optics were so hopeful..._

_You can trust me, right?_

Terabyte gasped unnecessarily for the vent of imaginary air as she came out of the unwilling memory. Only a few astro-seconds had passed, but it felt like she'd just relived her whole younglinghood. She shook her helm, trying to ignore the sting of coolant in her optics, trying to rid her mind of the charred, mutilated image of the Smokescreen she saw in her nightmares.

Her spark ached. She and Smokescreen had never been bonded in any way. There was no mentor bond between them, no twin-bond - they weren't even really related, much less split sparks - there had only ever been that precious sibling bond. Sibling bonds, unlike other bonds, were not actually really even there, physically speaking. They were just a thought-process, purely mental in nature. No spark connection, no telepathy, no empathic link... There was absolutely zero reason for her spark to hurt from his absence.

But try telling that to her spark.

Terabyte locked optics with the red mech, normally so perfectly continually jovial, who now looked down at her with those optics. Those sky blue optics. How could she ever say no to those optics? Smokescreen's optics gazing down on her through Cliffjumper's face. Who could _not _trust them?

She didn't bother to tell him; they all already knew.

Ratchet nodded his red-chevroned helm slightly, his armor rustling, shifting to better accommodate the respectful atmosphere. Inclining his helm slightly on the stressed word, the medic spoke, his tone considerably softer and quieter, _If you would __**like**__... we can look at the code for you and see what we can do to help._

Terabyte's optics remained hard and unrevealing, though it was pointless since they could still feel her every emotion. Then again, she could feel theirs just as well, putting them on somewhat level ground. Her lips pulled into a reluctant snarl. He was right. She needed help.

But she hated for it to be from Autobots. An Autobot _medic_. Medics knew too much about the way a Cybertronian functioned. Knowledge that could and would be used, usually to the 'patient's' detriment.

Nevertheless, she lit up a path of gold through her mind, leading them towards the dark shadow in her mind. She managed to cut off the flow of memories, returning her mind to the calming, yet so agonizingly reminding, image of Protihex in its prime and glory. She took a soothing vent of air, regaining her composure. Vaguely in the back of her mind, she was aware of the fact that she was lying prone on a medical table, unconscious and likely to remain that way for a good couple of rotations.

She was also aware of the fact that what felt like an eternity of her mind being occupied by Autobots was actually only about three klicks, or approximately six minutes.

She sighed faintly. _Come. _

**Meanwhile.**

Bulkhead's wrecking ball slammed into the Vehicon's face, crushing the 'Con's face, sending the towering purple jet stumbling backwards. That was an awesome left-hook...

Except that awesome left-hook now had way too many tons of giant alien robot falling directly towards her. Miko's hazel, slanted eyes went wide. Not good!

Looking around frantically, the girl sprinted off to the right, running like her life depended on it - which... it did. She grinned, leaping behind a boulder, rolling in the dust like they did in movies, heart pounding in her chest as the Vehicon came crashing down a couple feet behind her. Miko sprung back up to her feet, dusting off her now-torn navy and maroon tights.

"Phh-whoah..." That was close. She shook her pink-highlighted pigtails, dust floating down and around her at the motion. Huh. The movie-folks never got dusty when they did it. Nor did she remember them having headaches after doing a roll like that. Maybe she just needed more practice. She panted, still grinning at the adrenaline.

All around her, the Autobots were kicking serious Decepticon butt - tail-pipe? Bumper? Arcee was way over there across the canyon taking on Breakdown like a pro, while OP was trashing Knockout. A flash of light caught her eye and turning to see what it was, she saw that it was the data-thingy. That was what everyone was fighting over, right? So she'd go get it and save the mission!

"Sweet!" She whispered, darting out around Optimus' legs towards the silver thing. Luckily the huge Boss-Bot, as Cliff' called him, didn't see her.

Halfway to the cylinder a huge crash sounded from what seemed like two inches from her, followed by a ground-shaking thud. Miko stumbled, caught herself with one hand, and ran on, glancing over to see Breakdown tackling Arcee. Satisfied that the 'Con was getting owned, the girl leapt over the giant cylinder and dropped down, leaning against it and panting heavily.

"Whew! Okay... Aut-o-bot ba-se..." She muttered scrambling to find the number on her hot pink phone. Her fingers were a little shaky. Finding the number with Ratchet's face - ooh, he'd been _so _mad when she took that photo in the middle of his ranting/lecturing - attached, she dialed quickly. "Ratchet? Come in!"

"Miko..." Ratchet's voice came over sternly, though he seemed somewhat distracted, "This is an _emergency _line. We need to keep it clear for..."

She smirked as he trailed off, no doubt just now registering the sounds of battle around her. Ratchet made a few choking sounds, "W- Wait. Where are you?"

"D- Oy!" Miko started to say 'duh' before she caught the suspicious tone in his voice. She pouted indignantly. She was only helping! She winced as Bulk took a heavy hit to the helm. "I'm with the thingamabob!"

"Thingama- The data cylinder?!" The medic asked in disbelief.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. The 'Bots could be so _slow_ sometimes. "Yes! Can you like, bridge it out of here or something?"

"I'll..." Another long, distracted pause. Miko frowned, wondering what he was doing. Maybe it wouldn't have been so boring to have stayed after all... Nah. This was way cooler. "... reactivate arrival coordinates..."

Hearing the whirl of the portal activating several yards away, the fifteen-year-old girl groaned. This thing was huge! How did Ratchet expect her to get it way over there? "Dude... Couldn't you open it a little _closer_?"

"Supply coordinates." The doc-bot responded flatly.

"Uh..." Miko tilted her head, squinting to try and judge the distance. She hummed and hawwed before throwing out a hopeful, "Er... Fifty yards?"

She could just see Ratchet rolling his sea blue eyes/optics. Patience was not one of the doc-bot's strong suits. "_Precise_ coordinates."

The girl growled, standing up and leaning all of her weight against the cylinder. She shoved with all her might, grunting loudly. The obstinate thing didn't even budge. It wasn't like she was weak, she was just better with the sneaking/pranking than the grunt-work. Easier to leave that to Jack.

Okay. Plan B. When push comes to shove... get momentum?

Miko ran a couple yards away from the data-thing and prepared herself. She didn't see Bulkhead getting beat back towards the cylinder. Running as fast as she could, the pink-haired girl let out a Japanese war cry, jumping into the air to deliver the best flying kick she could manage. Landing gracefully on her butt, Miko growled, punching the dust next to her. It didn't even... wait.

The silver and blue device was thrumming and vibrating, rattling loudly. Miko got up and looked around nervously. Uh-oh... Maybe she shouldn't have tried kicking it... What if she'd broke it? All of sudden the thingamabob clicked and clattered, bouncing up a good foot in the air as the end of it transformed, revealing what looked like a giant, red button.

Just as the thing had transformed and was now buzzing more and more insistently, Breakdown punched Bulkhead hard enough to send him toppling, right in front of the glowing red button...

The huge dark-green Wrecker fell flat on his back with his head inches from the device, a huge crash echoing through the canyon. Shortly followed by a _BZZZAAAP_! as the cylinder shot out a bright flash of red laser light straight into Bulk's head.

"Bulk!" She screamed, running a few steps towards him before having to stop as Knockout slid in front of her, obviously not caring if he happened to step on her.

The shiny, red 'Con grinned down at her guardian, mock awe in his voice. "You _really_ took one for the team, Bulkhead." He chuckled, picking up the cylinder with an ease that made Miko's pride burn a little. His cultured, high-class voice echoed in her head. "_My _team."

And with that, the two Decepticons that the Bots hadn't slagged were gone, having driven through the slightly more purple ground-bridge. Miko ran up to Bulkhead instantly, asking simultaneously with Prime, "Bulkhead! Are you-"

The ex-Wrecker cut them both off with a chuckle. "Fine. Didn't even smart."

Miko let out a relieved breath. So she messed up and the 'Cons had the data cylinder now. She grinned up at her guardian, not at all worried about the small defeat. Bulk was okay, so it'd all work out in the end.


	37. Mental Mayhem

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 37**

**Mental Mayhaps**

_The endless flat-lands were interrupted by the rare, stunted obsidian tree, the silence pierced by the howls of the turbo-hounds on the hunt. The three moons shone dimly in the twilight. The dark silhouette of a two-wheeler rolled silently over the plains, engine not making a sound. The hounds weren't the only ones on the hunt, and with luck, her prey wouldn't stand a chance._

_A tiny mental radar bleeped faster and faster the closer she got. Her target scratched his helm and warbled something to the mech with him. They were just on a standard patrol. And she was out on an unauthorized mission. Of course, she figured that if anyone back at Kaon questioned her... well, she had friends in high places and Sky'd stick up for her. _

_He always did._

_She was pretty deep in Autobot territory at this point. In fact, she was in the Iacon Sector. The sparkling city of murderers was just past the horizon, though her own safety was not incredibly high on her priority list. _

_The gold-orange, blue, and white Wrecker was pointing at something in the ditch in front of him, the orange tailfin of his alt-mode attached to each shoulder and hanging just above and behind his masked helm. His buddy was a taller mech, blue and gray with __**pink**__ biolights. She barely took a moment to cock an optic ridge at the odd color bios for a mech._

_Her mind was hardly in the present; the past was swarming into her thoughts. It always did when she found one of her targets. But as soon as the battle commenced she would be more in the present the ever. So she let the memories come, making her angrier and angrier._

_She was close enough to hear them now. Seaspray spoke in his strange, watery voice, "Rotorstorm, this is your first patrol, yeah?"_

_"Yes, sir." The pink-bio'd mech answered instantly, almost bouncing on his pedes. So excited to have joined the Wreckers. _

_Seaspray's casual tone suddenly went stiff as he turned around to look her straight in the optics. "Let's make sure it i'n't your last."_

_The spy sprung into her bi-pedal mode fast as lightning, cannon charged and dagger at the ready. She growled at the blue and gray youngling, Rotorstorm. He was probably physically several vorns older than her, but she could tell that he'd only recently been upgraded to his final frame. "Keep your weapons down, mech. I have no quarrel with you."_

_"Oh yeah? We're Wreckers, Decepti-creep. __**We**__ don't run from battle!" Rotorstorm taunted, pulling out two standard-model blasters that glowed that same hot pink._

_Seaspray let out an urgent hiss and motioned for the mechling to lower the weapons and back off. To her surprise the kid did as told and backed off, shooting her the darkest look he could muster. Her widened optics narrowed. Now that the kid was out of the way..._

_She shot the veteran Wrecker's gun out of his hands without hardly thinking about it, following the blast by charging at him full-speed. There was no way he could have recognized her... yet. He would before she offed him._

_He knocked her aside almost before she'd reached him. His large blue fist held quite a decent heft to it, sending her skidding on her aft on the hard metal ground. Nodding to herself, she was back on her pedes in an astrosecond. She wouldn't underestimate the squat boatformer again. _

_"Could I ask what quarrel you've got with me? I don't recall ever meeting you." Seaspray said conversationally, bracing for her next move._

_Lunging towards him, she leapt over his helm, swinging her dagger towards his helm only to be blocked as he whirled around to meet her. She snorted. "You wouldn't." _

_"Who was it?" His watery voice was resigned. As if he was used to having mechs try to kill him for killing their friends. He probably was, being an Autobot and a Wrecker this far into the war. He blocked again before throwing in a few of his own punches, most of which were deflected, a couple of which landed._

_She gasped as his fist collided with her gut, knocking the air from her vents. Hissing, she plunged her dagger into his thigh, jumping back away to cool her systems. They circled each other slowly, their audience of Rotorstorm forgotten. _

_"__**Who was it**__?!" She shouted, disgusted. "__**Who was it**__? Of course, I should have known you've killed too many to keep track... Yellow and blue youngling... Protihex... Does that bring anyone to mind?"_

_He froze in spot, not even flinching as she kicked him in the chest, knocking him to his aft. Slowly he began to recover, backing away from her with the most horrified look she'd ever seen on a mech's face. It was the look of mech who'd just seen death and was wondering if he deserved it._

_"Y-you're...? Terabyte?"_

_Now it was her turn to do a double take. He'd even remembered her name. A cheerless smirk slid to her face. Good. He ought to feel guilt for what they'd done. They'd killed thousands in Protihex. Hundreds of thousands._

_Her mask lowered, just to confirm it to him. When Alpha Trion had upgraded her, she'd made certain that her face was the same. For just this purpose._

_Seaspray began to rise to his pedes, but she was too fast. Jumping towards him, she landed pede-first on his chest-plate, crouching down to press her dagger into his neck, applying a barely non-lethal amount of pressure to the primary fuel-line to his processor. _

_"Ultra Magnus, sir... There are younglings here... and families... Are a couple trines really worth it?" She played back the record of Seaspray's conversation to Magnus the day before Protihex fell. His expression was so pained; she might have felt bad about it if she weren't so full of hate at the moment. "But Magnus, the innocents-!" ... "Yes sir. Understood sir. I'll try Magnus... Yes sir. Seaspray out."_

_"You knew." She spat, pressing the blade just a little further into his neck. "You __**knew**__ and did nothing to prevent it."_

_"No! You don't understand, sparkling. You don't-"_

_She cut him off with a cold laugh. "I'm no sparkling. You should be proud: you played an integral part in my youngling hood... ending it."_

_"You didn't hear what Magnus was saying! The mission wasn't supposed to go like that!" Seaspray pleaded to her deaf audials. "If you'd just heard what Magnus was telling me, you'd understand that this is all just a misunderstanding!"_

_"275,913 sparks. Just a simple __**misunderstanding**__ on my part, I'm sure." She spat, just louder than a whisper. She pulled the dagger away from his neck and moved to plunge it through his spark for all that he'd-_

_"__**Wait**__!" _

_She stopped to look at the source of the interruption. The source of the interruption who was currently trembling so hard his armor rattled against his frame. Somehow just looking at the mech made the murderous expression on her unmasked face melt away into pity and confusion._

_The femme's voice was still guarded. "Why? You know of Protihex don't you?" The blue and gray mech nodded stiffly. She continued, "Give me one reason __**why**__ I shouldn't kill him."_

_"B-because..." Rotorstorm stuttered, the blades of his helicopter alt-mode swishing back and forth on his back in his nervousness. Her confusion was clearly confusing him. "He's m-my __**mentor**__!"_

_She glared at the boatformer that lay completely wilted and unresistant beneath her pedes. "Is this true?"_

_Seaspray nodded, gurgling some form of an affirmative. The spy continued to glare at him feeling the tenseness in the air as both of the Autobots waited to see what she would do. Rotorstorm's rattling armor was the only sound that broke the stillness. Snapping up her mask and sheathing her dagger, the Decepticon major hissed at the Wrecker who'd been at Protihex._

_"Mark my words, __**Wrecker**__. If our paths cross again... It will take a lot more than the pleas of a budding murderer to save you."_

She stood in dead silence, watching the two Autobots poke and prod at the wall between her mind and... whatever it was that was behind it. Between her and the voice. After what seemed like eons, the medic and frontliner turned to her, each having arrived at the same conclusion.

_This is no simple firewall. _Ratchet pointed out the obvious in a grave tone. _Ordinary methods of hacking will only make it stronger... _

_It was designed to be you-proof. _Cliffjumper said quietly.

Terabyte snorted. _If you don't have anything new to tell me, then get out of my helm._

_The strain of two foreign minds in hers while being hacked will be too much for her processor to handle. _The medic told Cliffjumper, neither one paying much attention to her at the moment. _I have the expertise, so you should leave._

Cliffjumper laughed at the idea of leaving the medic alone with her. _She'll kill you the minute I leave. She at least almost trusts me._

She put in a strong confirmation of that fact - the killing him part, not the trust - accompanied with the image of just how dead Ratchet would be. Just in case they somehow got the idea that she all of a sudden didn't hate them and everything they stood for as Autobots.

The medic fumed, but it was clear to all present that he had no argument against that statement. He also failed to disguise the shudder as he received the picture of his termination. _Fine. I'll leave and monitor her vitals. The Autobots need my full attention anyway._

With that, the medic's mental presence faded out. Terabyte sighed in relief, feeling her mind so much closer to being her own. She also felt considerably less cornered, even though she still knew that she was unconscious in a med-bay. The claustrophobia that had been creeping into her melted slightly.

_This probably won't feel the greatest... _Cliffjumper mumbled apologetically.

Terabyte didn't even have time to come up with a smart remark before her processors seemed to scream. He was hacking through the firewalls by sheer brute force. Unprepared for this approach and the blazing inferno it sent through her neural net, she panicked.

She knew he was destroying the firewalls that she'd been attacking since the astrosecond she found them, and yet, in her panic, fought the mech, trying to make him stop. Trying to make the pain stop. Whoever had built these firewalls was an amazing programmer and she could see in the shattered layers of it, thick lines of code to ensure that such agony would come of breaking them that any hacker would be quickly deterred.

_"STOP!" _She screamed, mentally, physically, she couldn't tell or care which. She wasn't supposed to be awake, but maybe she was anyway. Maybe it hurt enough that the sedatives hadn't kept her asleep.

Her armor was pressed so tightly to her frame, she wondered how she wasn't damaging her internals. Or maybe she was laying perfectly still and unmoving on the med-berth still and it was only in her helm. She was punching Cliffjumper, kicking, biting, possibly even stabbing him with her dagger, mentally or physically. Again, she couldn't really tell or care which. _"PLEASE! Make it stop! Make it stop!"_

The firewalls that she'd been unable to even make a mark on, he was smashing down in seconds. In too much pain to continue her resistance, Terabyte merely watched in a haze of mental pain as he slammed through the barrier. That was the only weakness to the encryptions: an amount of brute mental force that she didn't have. It had been built to resist traditional decoding methods, but there was next to nothing to withstand the mental ram that was Cliffjumper.

Searing pain continued to course through her. So much. She curled into a tight ball on the floor. She felt herself crying, screaming, though her vocalizer had long ago ceased to make a sound. Shivering, shaking, pleading mercy.

Arms were wrapped around her, rubbing her dorsal plates in a soothing manner. Her audials acknowledged a voice speaking in a calming tone, but she heard none of the words. _"Please... please! Make it stop... please... make it stop..."_

Finally, at long last, new pain stopped coming, though the old pain continued to wrack her frame. For several breems she stayed in that position, shivering and whimpering. Vaguely she felt Cliffjumper taking her pain into himself. He was siphoning it from her.

She'd asked for his help, then done as much as she could to cause enough pain to make him stop, he'd refused to stop in spite of that, and now he was sharing her pain to make it more bearable? His actions made no sense: especially not for an Autobot. If anything he should be glad that he was so successfully torturing her, not trying to ease the agony.

Several more breems passed and she heard Skyquake speaking, but his words didn't register to her pain-stricken mind. The femme assumed that the comforting arms around her belonged to him. Which assumedly meant that either she was awake. Or she could simply be imagining the big green jet in a desperate grab for comfort.

_"Please tell me it's over." _She whispered pathetically to Skyquake, to Cliffjumper, to anyone who might possibly care.

His voice strained, Cliffjumper gave her the equivalent of a mental helm shake. _Just one more layer. Just one more, I promise. _

_You know, _Terabyte laughed weakly, _If this was supposed to prove to me that Autobots are benevolent bots who heal and bring peace... This kind of failed, don't you think?_

_If this doesn't work you can kill me as viciously as you like, okay? If it does, you owe Raf and me a game of Need for Speed, driving a Barbie-pink oldies' buggy. Deal?_ Cliffjumper bargained with that wide grin of his.

The spy quirked an optic ridge at him, in spite of the helm-splitting ache in her processors. She smiled wryly, _Sad thing is, I can't tell which is supposed to be the reward anymore... But it's a deal._

Cliffjumper slammed into the last shreds of the mental barrier right at that moment, while she was distracted. He probably hoped it would make it hurt less if she wasn't thinking about it.

He was wrong.

She screamed. She screamed louder than she ever had before as the final layer crashed, clenching her fists so tightly that life-En was streaming from them. Hearing a hiss of pain next to her, the dark spy realized that Skyquake's hand - she still was unsure if he was real or imaginary - was in one of said fists.

Again she felt Cliffjumper taking her pain away. Hiding it away in himself. It didn't make sense...

Then Terabyte gasped, optics widening even more, and her mouth falling agape, the battle mask long since dropped. Her true memories flooded into her mind, each memory file playing simultaneously.

All her mind could register was a glimpse into each one, along with shreds of conversations, flashes of color, sounds of battles, crying, her resolutions, decisions, revelations. The look in someone's optics, a shout, laughing, music, Raf, the horror when Megatron controlled her, Scraplets, Skyquake waking, Optimus smiling at her, Cliffjumper's dumb jokes. Arcee's berthroom, the betrayal of her mentor, the little blond human girl sitting on her back. Sight, sound, touch, smell...

Her processor filed these memories to their proper places, discarding false memories as it went. Memories that Soundwave had twisted out of context now made sense. Reeling from the overwhelming amount of sensory re-input, Terabyte blinked, returning to reality as Cliffjumper disconnected.

Dazed, she stared blankly at Skyquake, who was still rubbing her back. She slowly let go of his bruised hand. The light of her optics, deep blood-red, bathed her hands in the color. She was on her knees. In Ratchet's medical bay. Surrounded by Autobots and the three humans.

Friends.

Friends whom she'd just spent the last half a quartex trying to kill. She shuddered. Real memories back didn't change the memories she'd made in that time. Slowly she took in her surroundings, trying - with a good deal of difficulty - to stay focused on the present. Her processors kept flinging memories at her, yet her aching mind couldn't absorb any of them at the moment.

Bulkhead was sitting on the second medical berth, Optimus was standing as unimposingly in the doorway as he could, Skyquake was kneeling beside her, Cliffjumper was directly in front of her with an expression most likely mirroring her own to a lesser degree of pain. Arcee was leaning on the wall behind Cliff, glaring at her suspiciously - as if she had the will or energy to attack, Terabyte thought wryly. Bumblebee was looking at her with confusion, Ratchet was checking Bulkhead's vitals and attaching tubes to the ex-Wrecker's helm and spark.

Jack was gripping Miko's wrist incredibly tightly, making the excitable girl squirm and glare at him as he held her back. And Raf was standing in front of her with a small hand on her black, diamond-shaped knee. He was probably not even a third of her height. 4"5 or thereabouts?

"Hi Terabyte." The little boy said a little uncertainly, attracting the attention of all present.

"Hello squishy." Terabyte replied, her vocalizer coarse. Instantly, she regretted the lack of consideration as the boy's brown eyes widened in... fear. Raf backed away, pulling his hand away from her knee as if the plating had burned him.

"Oh..." He sighed, looking up at Bumblebee, "I thought Cliffjumper fixed her?"

**"There was no guarantee it would work... We'd just hoped... I guess it didn't work." **The yellow scout said with a few resigned blips.

"Raf!" The spy's voice came out harsh, her vocalizers mostly burned out. The spiky-haired boy jumped at the sound of her voice, gazing into her red optics with obvious trepidation. Her shoulder wheels slumped, spinning on their axles as she tried to ignore the sensory overload from her memories. "Please..."

Her mask was still down, and she was going to leave it that way for a little while. Because of this, the disappointed and frightened boy stared into her faceplates, searching for something to tell him that she wasn't going to kill everything Autobot she could get her claws on.

"Terabyte?" Raf asked hopefully, tilting his head at her. "Are you..."

Daintly lips quirking up into a little smile, she suggested, "Still an evil madmech?"

"Uh... yeah?" He responded sheepishly, looking like he still wasn't sure if agreeing to that would get him flattened or not.

"No..." She sighed deeply, staring at Cliffjumper's shiny, silver pede. Her tanks rolled, the sight making her want to purge. She'd done that. "Just what's left in her wake."

Her optics remained locked on the disfigured pede. The wheel jutted out from the back of his calf, suspended only by the axle. The foot was the same length forward and backward, consisting of six layered trianglular plates. The thigh was almost half the width of the other, made of flat, rectangular plates rather than round ones. Gears, pistons, bolts, and hydraulics were mostly open for all to see.

She did that. That was her fault.

The idea that just a few small modifications to her memories... just a few altered circumstances, could push her so far over the edge. Could make her do something like that to a mech that called her family.

"Cliffjumper... I- I'm-" Her engine choked on itself a couple times before she managed to continue, "I'm so, so sorry..."

What else could she say? No amount of apologizing or helping or just being extraordinarily nice could ever make up for that. Nothing could. It wasn't like she could just say, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blast your leg into a heap of slag at point-blank range'.

"Sorry? _Sorry_?!" Arcee shouted at her, pulling away from the wall to stand over Terabyte, fuming. Those purple-ringed optics glared down at her with such anger.

Armor shrinking down so tight her bio-lights were concealed, the dark spy stared at the floor. She deserved all the thrashing - verbal and physical - that she knew that Arcee at least wouldn't hesitate to give her. A small portion of her wondered that the Prime wasn't already telling the pink and blue femme to stand down. He was probably cheering inwardly. She deserved it.

Beside her, Skyquake had sprung to his pedes, bristling. Ready to defend her should Arcee make one wrong move. Terabyte looked up at him with gentle, defeated optics. She didn't need to ask him to stand down. That look was enough.

"_Sorry_ doesn't cut it! _Sorry_ doesn't give him back his leg! And _sorry_ sure as the Pits won't bring you back into our base as if you never betrayed us." Arcee finished in a cold hiss, hand-blasters levelled on her spark.

Terabyte just shuttered her optics. She didn't have the energy or the will to fight at the moment. Memories fluttered before her mind. Finding Smokescreen in the alleys, meeting Starscream's trine, Darkshine's death and Shadowlight's vengeance, hacking into various Autobot's minds, her first training session with Sky, sparring with Bulkhead, playing make-believe with Raf the day the Scraplets invaded, getting her Autobot insignia, her last conversation with her sire and carrier, being trapped in the cave with Cliffjumper and wanting, trying so hard to off him.

"'Cee. Stop." The commanding tone made the ex-Decepticon - probably not still Autobot - femme snap her helm up instantly, optics opening to reveal Cliffjumper standing between her and Arcee. "Hurt for hurt will solve nothing. We don't have the resources to waste on pointless, unnecessary, and unwanted revenge."

The pink and blue femme glared at Cliffjumper in a way that suggested that she was seriously considering fighting her way to the traitorous spy trembling on the floor behind him. Said spy had slammed her mask up, her still-clamped armor quivered with anger directed towards herself. At the creature that had just proved itself to be inches below the surface of her spark: the creature that was a mirror-image of everything she'd fought against.

Mindless lust for the life-En of others just for the symbol they did or didn't wear. Unprecedented hatred that defied all logic. Sparkless disregard for the termination of others. Vengeance before justice.

Soundwave hadn't reprogrammed her to be what she'd become during that time. He hadn't suppressed her sense of honor, mercy, or justice. All he'd done was make her think she'd lost just one more loved one. Just one. And she became a sparkless killer with more rage and hatred than Megatron himself.

The femme just barely had time to push Raf to safety and lower her mask before purging her tanks all over herself and Cliffjumper's pedes at the thought of what she had allowed herself to become.

And now Cliffjumper wanted to spare her justice.

She didn't want to be spared. She didn't deserve to be spared. She'd cost him his pede and almost his spark and he wanted to spare her justice. Maybe if justice were served this ache in her spark would go away. Maybe if they punished her enough, she'd feel like her debt had been repaid.

"No, Cliffjumper. I deserve to be punished for my treachery." She bit out, her tone venomous. "I became everything I spent this whole war thinking I was fighting against; don't keep me from justice."

Optimus Prime came over slowly, reaching down and grabbing her by the shoulders, lifting her out of the regurgitated contents of her own tanks with ease. Setting her gently on her pedes, holding her for a moment as if to ensure she would stay standing, the scarlet and blue Prime's face held a reluctant strain.

His deep, regal baritone rumbled in the relatively crowded med-bay, instantly silencing the murmurings of Arcee, Bulkhead, and - surprisingly - Jack. "No physical discipline will be enacted-"

The room exploded in angry protests from the majority of the room, including Terabyte herself.

"Optimus, we can't just pretend that none of this happened!"

"What? Are we just going to let her betray us, mutilate our mechs?"

"Sure. Why not? Why don't you just let every 'Con that says they're _sorry_ into your base? Do you _want_ to risk me killing you all in your recharge?"

"We'd be better off to find the Nemesis and surrender right here and now!"

"Autobots!" The Autobot leader interrupted, "That is enough. I am not suggesting Terabyte go unpunished."

This earned him a couple mutinous glares and a nearly inaudible sigh of relief from Terabyte. Her relief did not go unnoticed by any of those present.

"As you can all see, physical retribution for her wrongs would hardly be a punishment, and as Cliffjumper mentioned, we cannot afford the resources to repair injuries that could be otherwise avoided."

Optimus looked her straight in the optics as he spoke, that spark-piercing cobalt gaze filled with resigned disappointment. She wondered if that - that agonizing look of a bot that had been let down - she wondered if that was part of her punishment. She wondered when she had begun to care what the Prime thought of her... and why she hadn't started sooner.

"You will be put under full parole at half rations again and the locator-transmitter previously installed will be modified to put you under full stasis-lock should you say or do anything that would suggest Decepticon motives. You go nowhere without an Autobot escort." He glanced at Ratchet now, "In addition, you will agree to be subjected to full processor scans on an ornly basis, as invasive as Ratchet deems necessary for as long as Ratchet deems necessary. You will cooperate fully and if any Autobot doubts your honesty or motives, you will not object to unscheduled processor scans, however invasive as seen to be required. Is this understood?"

Her armor, which had relaxed with her previous relief, once again pressed against her protoform, making the new welds in her right arm burn. Nevertheless, the masked femme nodded swiftly, managing to string some words together in her fear and light-helm-edness, "Yes, Lord Prime, very clearly, my lord."

Her processors were too preoccupied with the still ongoing flow of memories - a few of which had been suppressed by Soundwave, most of which her processor was simply replaying either to scan for discrepancies or just for the sake of it - for Terabyte to notice the sadness that filled the Prime's optics at her reply.

"All in agreement to the afore stated sentence?" Optimus inquired formally.

"Sounds fair." Ratchet agreed, nodding firmly before returning to whatever he was doing to Bulkhead.

Bumblebee gave a buzzing whirr of confirmation, though he didn't seem to think words were necessary. Cliffjumper nodded swiftly, looking like he was just ready for it all to be done with, as it was attracting undue attention to the new pede.

After some hesitation, Bulkhead bobbed his helm as much as he dared with the testy old medic working on him. The Wrecker did however shoot her a hard look, "As long as we're all clear: it'll take a lot to regain even a little bit of our trust. If that's even possible."

Miko put her hands on her hips and gave her guardian a reproachful look, but Jack elbowed whatever rebuke she'd prepared right out of her. The eldest boy spoke up for the three humans, saying, "Optimus is giving you a second chance, Terabyte. Don't make us regret it."

The silent threat was very clear to all who heard him. She bowed her helm respectfully to the human boy - near man-hood by Earth legal standards. He was quite experienced and quite wise for his age... even accounting for the fact that his whole life-span could very well end up being less than a vorn, about eighty-three Earth years. That deserved her respect.

Her respectful gesture made the human's face turn slightly pink in the cheeks.

Finally everyone turned expectantly to Arcee: the last vote. The war-hardened femme's engine let out a discontented growl. "Fine. But I still think you're letting her off too light."

"Your objections are noted, Arcee." Optimus replied firmly, his voice plainly saying in its own regal way, 'noted and duly ignored'. The large mech turned finally to Skyquake, surprising everyone in the room by his next query, "Skyquake, do you have any objections you wish to give voice to at this time?"

The large green jet stared at the Prime for a good handful of seconds before pulling together, with a significantly puzzled and suspicious tone. "The angry Autobot femme is correct, the punishment seems light... Lord Megatron surely would have slain her by now, no matter her value as a high-ranking communications and intel officer. Not even Soundwave could have spared her from execution. Yet you give her hardly more than a slap on the wrist. Why? What are your motives?"

Optimus looked him straight in the optics and then glanced over at Terabyte. "We are Autobots. We forgive those who show a willingness to better themselves, and we give each other second chances. How can we expect this war to ever end if we cannot learn to forgive? The Autobots have become like family, and family does not give up on each other, family does not seek harm within itself, and lastly," Here the scarlet and blue mech caught Arcee's optics in a reproving look, "Family trusts its members... no matter what wrongs they may have committed."

Below them, Miko could be heard whispering to Jack, "Now _that's _a speech. Dude, you should take lessons!"

In spite of the seriousness of the moment, and the fact that that speech was the reason she was still standing here unharmed, Terabyte had to make quite the effort to stifle a laugh at the girl's reaction. Bumblebee snickered in his usual whirrs and blips, his irreparably damaged vocalizer no longer able to produce more than the simplest, unemotional Cybertronian. Thus he used the beeps, whirls, and buzzes to make up for it.

Skyquake nodded, a contemplative expression resting on his faceplates. "I will be greatly honored should the day come that I may carry the name Autobot."

At her friend's words, Terabyte winced behind the cover of her midnight navy battle mask. The faint red glow of her bio-lights sparkled mockingly before her optics, as if to rub it in. To remind her of the monster within, just below the surface. That honor had been bestowed on her and she had treated it like a curse. She bore the name - at first - for the sole purpose of furthering her own twisted ideas of justice.

If only she could have avoided this. If she'd just fought against Soundwave just a little harder...

"Bumblebee, escort Terabyte to the mess hall for refueling, then take her to Arcee's quarters for rest." Optimus ordered, his optics going dim as he completed the orders through private comms.

The yellow scout touched her elbow gently, motioning silently for her to follow his lead. Terabyte just stared at him blankly, her dimmed optics not seeing, her audials deaf to the present. She wasn't even aware of her pedes moving as she followed him towards wherever it was he was leading her.

_She laughed humorlessly, and not without a fearful waver. "__**Yeah... That's why you're all afraid of him. I've seen how he can subdue each of his best warriors with a glance." **__She let out a hot vent, __**"Harmless, I'm sure."**_

_**"Terabyte," **__Bumblebee smiled wide and laughed... __**"We aren't **_**afraid **_**of Optimus! Not like that anyway. He's almost like a father to me, he and his team have raised me since I was a mechling. No, we love and respect him as our leader; maybe we are a little scared of him, but not because he hurts us or threatens us with punishment. We are afraid only of disappointing him." **_

_..._

_Arcee held out a hand to help her to her pedes, "We're Autobots, kid. We don't cause pain without reason."_

...

_Megatron smirked, no doubt at her widened optics. "Oh yes, you've worn both insignias now. But the symbol on your chassis means little either way, Lieutenant... What matters is whose side you are on in spark."_

_..._

_Terabyte ignored him. "It's just... I'm still not sure if we're on the right side. I mean, I just had Megatron in my helm, so I know the Decepticons have lost sight of our cause... but how can we be sure that the Autobots-"_

_"Tera," Skyquake interrupted, his deep voice gentle. "The cause you fought for, and taught me to fight for, that was never the Decepticons' cause. You were sheltered."_

_His words hit her like a physical blow. "No I-"_

_"The moral standards you hold, and slowly taught me to, are very Autobot, Terabyte." His expression was pained. "Megatron... He tolerated your contradictory beliefs and made a great effort to keep you... ignorant of what we really believed."_

_..._

**"Terabyte? Ter-a-byte!" **A series of singsong-y beeps rang through her helm, cutting through the memories of a few of the turning points she'd gone through. A black servo waved up and down in front of her optics.

"...Hmmm?" She asked distractedly, still not totally focused on the present. Her red optics rebooted, fuzzed out, then focused in on Bumblebee.

He held up a cube of Energon to her. The blue plasma sloshed slightly in the cube, making her tanks rumble loudly. At his laugh, Terabyte wrapped an arm around her middle self-consciously. An error appeared on her HUD, _Warning: Fuel tanks at 17%. _

She hissed quietly. She was on half rations... That would mean she needed to watch her activity level a little more closely. Nodding her thanks, Terabyte accepted the offered Energon cube gratefully, sliding onto one of the steel benches.

Bumblebee grabbed a larger cube for himself, since he was a larger mech than her. **"Are you... um... okay?"**

Forgetting about the English language completely, the dark femme sighed, taking a small sip of her Energon, trying to savor it. She'd only be allowed to drink half of what he gave her anyway. **"I am... functioning within normal parameters."**

The scout's big, round optics gleamed sympathetically, his voice gently reproachful, **"That's not what I asked. I mean, are **_**you**_** okay?"**

She stared into her Energon for a while before taking another sip. Her optics clouded over as her processors replayed that time in the cave with Cliffjumper. As she was forced to relive the whole thing. She had wished that it had been the scout. And she seriously doubted that a pede would've been all Bumblebee would've walked away missing had it been him.

Shaking away those thoughts, Terabyte looked at him with pained optics, her optic ridges furrowed, **"If it'd been you in that mine... I-I would've killed you. And it would have made me happy... You know that, right?"**

He bobbed his yellow helm, shrugging as if it didn't concern him in the slightest that he was alone with the femme who basically said she would have happily murdered him about an hour ago.

**"I'm a monster." **She reiterated, unsure if she'd been blunt enough. In spite of her efforts, her vocalizer cracked with static as she uttered that statement. She gulped down a little more of her Energon, swiping away a drop of coolant before the scout could spot her weakness.

**"You're only a monster if you can know that without remorse." **Bumblebee said quietly.

She could feel his gaze resting on her helm. Just in that gaze, it was like looking into his spark. He wished that he could do something to help, other than words, which he wasn't sure if she was even listening to.A pink drop of coolant fell into her Energon with a muted splash.

**"From what I can tell, you are a long way from being a monster, Terabyte." **He paused. Lightly touching her hand, Bumblebee continued softly, **"And in all your vorns with the Decepticons... No matter what you did in that time... I don't think you've ever been a monster."**

The midnight colored femme looked up at him with wide red optics sparkling with coolant as it now ran freely down her face, pooling on the edge of her mask. **"You and Cliff' are the only ones who'll ever trust me now... And I don't even know why you do."**

She gently pushed her half-empty cube of Energon away, having had her half ration. Her tanks were now at 50%. That was as full as they would be getting for the foreseeable future. Wiping her optics, the femme pushed her fears, confusion, worries, anger, and disgust - the latter two directed towards her self - back into the back of her mind to sort out later.

Straightening with a neutral, professional expression, and new hardness in her optics, the femme snatched her hand away and spoke calmly, "But that matters little at this time. I have consumed my allotted Energon ration... I believe you were to escort me to Arcee's quarters, sir?"

Bumblebee's optics widened and he in turn straightened. **"You only drank half what I gave you."**

"My fuel tanks are at fifty percent. The Prime ordered half rations, I will obey to the best of my abilities, sir." She replied stiffly, rising to her pedes in one swift motion.

**"I served you a half ration." **Bumblebee replied firmly, looking ready to order her to finish it.

Terabyte looked straight into the scout's large optics, daring him to try. She wasn't going to take her normal ration and call it half just because she was so small. Prime had ordered her to take half rations, so she was going to take half rations for a femme her size. "Sir, with all due respect, the Autobots do not have the resources for you to insist."

Her gaze served its purpose and the yellow and black mech rose and without another word, led her on to Arcee's quarters.

**Meanwhile. Bridge room.**

Ratchet glanced over at the dark green Wrecker that lay patiently on the floor in the bridge room, his large, clumsy servos resting on his stomach. Tubes and cords stuck out of the mech's helm, connecting him to the base computers.

The medic watched as Cliffjumper and Skyquake reluctantly headed off to their shared quarters for the rest Optimus had had to order them to get. Once they were gone, he pulled up a visual representation of Bulkhead's processors. Selecting an image that showed the thermal activity in the mech's helm, Ratchet turned to the group of remaining Autobots and human.

Jack had left to go to work, taking Raf with him, since the youngest boy's mother had made him promise to be home early that afternoon.

"This hot spot you see here," He pointed to the dark red portion in Bulkhead's memory core and logic processor. "It's information. Data. _Living_ _energy_."

"Whoa, hold on." Miko stepped away from the railing on the human's catwalk, as if that would help her absorb the information. She swung her hands, her voice getting progressively higher pitched as the girl 'freaked out', "It's _alive_, it's _on fire_, and it's in Bulkhead's _brain_!?"

The green mech on the floor lifted his helm to look at his panicking charge. "Chill, Miko." He went on to explain in a rational tone, using words far too long and technical for the mech's usual vocabulary, "The data's only inhabiting a _fraction _of my 'brain', infinitesimal by standard neural-net densities."

Then the large mech blinked, sounding minorly worried. "Wait. How do I know all that?"

Optimus' engine let out a low hum, "Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish, the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access."

"A security measure." Ratchet commented, watching with unspoken concern as the percentage of Bulkhead's mind that was infected continued to rise at a - while seemingly insignificant - steady rate. A steady rate that was, very gradually, getting faster. But saying so now would only serve to worry Miko.

"It would have jettisoned heavenward, lost to the stars." Prime mused, the more poetic side of the mech making itself known. That's what happens when a mech works as a secretary in the Iaconian Archives. The Archives were contagious.

Bulkhead sat up, giving a self-deprecating chuckle, "Except my fat engine block got in the way."

"Every 'Con there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until _Miko_ touches it?" Arcee asked skeptically, one hand on her hip, an optic ridge raised.

He nodded in confirmation. Her skepticism was unfounded. If any of these bots had bothered to listen to the report he gave them before they set out to obtain the cylinder, then all of this might have been avoided. But no, 'old doc Hatchet' just made it a habit to shoot off his vocalizer for no reason whatsoever. Actually listen to him for once? Why would they want to do that?

His aggravation and impatience ringing clearly in his voice, Ratchet reminded them all, "The cylinders _originated_ from Cybertron's golden age, _predating_ the Autobot/Decepticon divisions-"

"So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat." The two-wheeler finished for him, a slight smirk on her lips. She knew he hated it when people finished his sentences for him.

Optimus nodded. "Only alien life-forms, such as humans."

Ratchet looked over at the pink-haired girl on the catwalk with optics a little softer than usual. Which was not at all soft, the medic reminded himself, for the record. She stood there with her shoulders hunched forward, rubbing her arm. An apologetic expression was pasted on her soft features. Miko was obviously beating herself up over it, and Optimus' last words were certainly not helping matters. Surely he could have found a better choice of wording.

But someone else would have to fix her hurt feelings. He knew his own talents and comforting hurt, self-blaming little girls was certainly not one of them. It wasn't like he could just hit her upside the head with a wrench and tell her to quit being a fool.

That's how Ratchet normally dealt with things.

"So." Arcee said, gesturing to the walls that were now covered in equations, formulas, and chemical combinations. "Are we looking at genius? ...or gibberish?"

Ratchet hummed, leaving his work on the terminals to face them now. "I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes... but these equations _appear_ to be the formula for synthetic Energon."

"We hit the motherload?" Bulkhead asked excitedly, forgetting the medical attachments and leaping to his pedes, tearing them from his helm. Thankfully, the medic had figured he'd do that, and had, as a precaution, already disconnected them. "Miko, do you know what this means?"

The girl looked up at him blankly. "Um...?"

Arcee's voice was more excited than she'd been in quite a while, though she seemed to be recovering from Tailgate's demise much faster than Ratchet had expected. It was good to see that she was in fact going to recover. He'd done all he could to keep his patients functioning physically, but emotionally... he was a medic not a counselor.

That had been Jolt's thing. Which was also why his electric blue apprentice had left towards the end. There had been so many to counsel at that point... Ratchet didn't blame him for wanting to leave.

However, this discovery could very well help give the team a _much_ needed morale boost. Especially after the whole Terabyte ordeal. He still wasn't sure whether she could be trusted or not. On one hand, he saw was the murderous creature that attacked them, outnumbered three to one, and could likely have won had he not sedated her with enough meds to put Megatron on his aft for a good week. On the other hand, he saw that frightened and confused femme - hardly more than a youngling - crying into his chest-plates.

His audials tuned back into the Arcee's explanation, "...ch short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems."

Optimus' baritone rang with a weary hope, "Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war."

"Or better yet," Ratchet interjected, newfound hope burning in his spark, "handing us the key to revitalizing _Cybertron_."

The green Wrecker snorted, a beaming smile on his face, "We got the goods and all Megatron got was an empty bucket." He chuckled, standing up and knocking his helm, which, admittedly, made a rather hollow-sounding clang, "How often do _I_ get to use my noggin to save the day?"

**Meanwhile. Crew quarters, room E.**

Skyquake followed Cliffjumper into his quarters with heavy steps. Neither of them had gotten any recharge in far too long, and his HUD was beginning to give urgent warnings to defrag. The red mech looked just about as tired as he, Skyquake, felt.

The red warrior sauntered into his quarters and flopped down on the large berth in the main portion of the room, seeming to have forgotten about the paroled prisoner that he was supposed to be escorting. The jet had hardly gotten the door locked - he didn't know the code to unlock it, but he locked it anyway - before he heard Cliffjumper's systems shut down into recharge. The loud, worn out vents slowed into a peaceful whir, confirming Skyquake's assumption that he'd been forgotten.

A mech can only go so long without recharge, and he was personally glad that they'd been sent to recharge. The strong orders and - in the case of Ratchet - threats of being turned into a toaster if they didn't recharge, were quite unnecessary at this point.

He watched the red Autobot recharged for several astroseconds, still somewhat stunned at how at ease the mech was as he recharged. He either had no fears that Skyquake would harm him, was completely glitched in the helm, or was simply too tired to care. However, if the faint smile on the mech's face said anything, the former was the truest.

All that aside, Skyquake still had a minor problem with all this. For one, Cliffjumper had lost the bet, and bet said winner got the big berth. Surprisingly, this wasn't really the problem as far as the jet was concerned; it was, after all, the frontliner's room. The problem was that since Cliffjumper was on that berth, he really had nowhere to recharge.

His wings meant that he wouldn't fit in the small side enclosure that Cliffjumper normally occupied. That meant he could either attempt moving the mech - which he seriously doubted would go over well - or he could recharge on the floor. Which really didn't sound all that appealing.

If he hadn't locked the door as he came in, he could've gone to the brig. At least there was a berth he fit on in there. But he'd locked himself in here with a mech who currently sounded like something died in his main vents. Skyquake heaved a sigh and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. His wing-cons still ached from that blow Blitzwing had dealt to the most sensitive part of his already-incredibly-sensitive wings.

The jet would say that the idea of purposefully doing that to another winger shocked and disgusted him. Except, he had exploited that particular weakness in battle with Autobot wingers more often than he could count. So it didn't surprise him, though the longer his wing-cons ached, the more it disgusted him.

'Cons weren't afraid to fight dirty.

He'd been a 'Con for a long time, and before that, they'd been in the Pit. The Gladiatorial Pits of Kaon were not a nice place; a mech either fought dirty or he ended up scrap to be swept up by the drones. Granted, most mechs in the Pits weren't there by choice, at least not at first. Most Pit-fighters had been kidnapped or deceived at a young age, then... _encouraged _\- via whips, if their master was kind - to stay and fight for their sparks.

As for them, for stupidity or for greed or simply in the hopes of a better life - Skyquake snorted at the idea, if only they'd known - they had _chosen_ to go to the Pit. They'd thought it would be better at least than Kolkular's streets. So when they heard that the recruiters/kidnappers were in the city just past the state border, they had searched for the recruiters until they'd found the mechs. Imagine those twisted mechs' faces when they _asked _to be taken to the Pits. To be trained by the King of the Pits himself.

Megatron had been very pleased. Two young, strong mechs that actually _wanted_ to be there. The silver gladiator had killed his own master to become a master himself, rising his way through the rankings of the Pits. All that heard his name trembled, and soon, under his harsh training, all that heard their names also trembled.

Skyquake scowled at his processors. Last he checked, it wasn't normal to refer to one's self in plural. A glitch from his processor being physically torn open? His spark told him that he hadn't been in the Pit alone though. In fact, he hadn't been alone for any of it, not even when he was stuck guarding this dirt ball for seven vorns. That he wasn't complete when he was alone. But he'd always been alone...

Hadn't he?


	38. Road to Recovery

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 38**

**Road to Recovery**

_"No."_

_She glared at Dreadwing over her mask, and then turned to Skyquake, opening her mouth to protest, but the green jet cut her off before she could start. "No, Major Terabyte. You have gone too far this time. It's past time you faced some of the consequences for your insubordinate actions. Megatron is awaiting your presence, femme."_

_The Prussian blue and black femme's jaw dropped, a betrayed expression creeping onto her hidden faceplates. Sky never pulled rank on her! It was very clear that doing so was painful for him, so painful that even Dreadwing's faceplates had gone tight. But, still! This could cost her her whole career! And if she got demoted or excommunicated - well, for one thing, excommunication would likely get the DJD on her case, meaning her termination - she'd never get to exact justice for what they, the Autobots, did to her home._

_Surely Skyquake was aware of all this? She blinked her optics, rebooting them to confirm that it really was her friend speaking. Anger and hurt welled up in her, her cooling fans kicking in to cool her agitated frame, "Do you have any idea what this could mean?"_

_Sky always backed her. Until now._

_The mech winced, his hand twitching back towards his wings. She remembered several occasions in which he'd returned with lashes on his wings - the most sensitive equipment a Cybertronian could ever have - but he'd told her it had happened in battle. Her mind was too firmly loyal to the Decepticons to put the pieces together. _

_A brief look of horror crossed his face as he considered that he may be ordered to deal her punishment. By the time the femme would have noticed it though, Skyquake had replaced the expression with the stern glare of a disappointed commander. _

_"It should mean that you will consider the consequences of your actions next time you think about walking blindly into the enemy's stronghold and capital." His tone softened and he looked at her with pleading ruby optics, "Tera, you could have gotten yourself offlined out there. I'm just trying to protect you. I hope you realize that."_

_She glared up at him, her tone sour, "Do have a __**lovely**__ cycle. __**Sir**__."_

_Spinning on her heel, the femme stormed out, her helm held high. She ignored the muffled sound of Skyquake yelling at Dreadwing behind her. And the way his deep voice was filled with pained static._

_Her helm was still held high as she entered the Lord Protector's throne room. Bowing respectfully to the huge silver warlord, his second-in-command, and the silent shadow that was Soundwave, the femme addressed her leader. Her tone, gaze, and expression were held carefully neutral. "I received... orders stating that you wished to see me, my lord?"_

_"__**Yes**__," The warlord drawled, a frighteningly anticipatory grin splitting his faceplates to reveal jagged fangs, "Yes, I merely wished to __**enquire**__ as to why your post was left seemingly abandoned for a full orn?"_

_Taking a deep vent, the femme's outward appearance showed none of the fear she felt. Again she silently thanked her past self for making Alpha Trion give her the mask. Her spark pulse sped up. The Lord Protector was rumored to be outright deadly when he spoke with such formal civility and politeness._

_A polite, grinning Megatron did not bode well for her career. _

_"I did take an unexpected period of leave this previous orn, my lord." She responded, her words measured. It wouldn't do to flat-out lie to the mech... but selective vocabulary could prove useful._

_"Unexpected, indeed." Starscream sneered, hovering at Megatron's side. "I here __**Iacon**__ is a wonderful vacation area this time of vorn."_

_Her armor shrank down nearly imperceptibly before she flared it back out to its normal position - which was in fact a good bit further than relaxed - to ensure that she didn't appear small or vulnerable before her Lord Protector. Appearances were everything in this army. If a mech maintained a satisfactorily strong front, their chances of advancement in the ranks were highly increased. So she almost never relaxed her armor. At this point, relaxing completely was almost difficult for her._

_She didn't deem it worth her bother to wear out her vocs in petty banter with the Air Commander, so the femme simply awaited Lord Megatron's next words, earning a snubbed huff from the SIC. _

_"I must admit you have gall, femme." The silver warlord commented with a light undertone of... respect was too strong a word, though it came close. "To so openly defy my direct orders in such a manner, then stand before me mere joors after your offense without the slightest bit of apprehension." Megatron paused for his praise and accusation to sink in, he shrugged his large, pointed shoulders, "Either that or you're just stupid."_

_Still, the Prussian blue and black spy gave no outward reaction to his words. However, she had to repress a shudder at the dark glare Soundwave sent the warlord. The purple full-face visor did little to hide that look. _

_Megatron just laughed in his low, growling bass. "Though I doubt that is the case, considering the great amount of faith my head of the CI division holds in your regard."_

_"I believe you mentioned that I defied your direct orders, my lord?" The spy questioned stiffly, her processors meanwhile scanning her memory files for any orders she received from the warlord and pulling a blank. All of her orders went through Soundwave. Simultaneously, she set her logic processors to finding a way out of this with the least damage done to her rank and position._

_His red optics hardened, narrowing, the conversational tone levelling dangerously, "Yes. I do recall mentioning something to that effect. Care to tell me __**why**__, femme?"_

_"I..." She hesitated, trying to find words that wouldn't be detrimental to her case. Why couldn't Skyquake have just backed her up on this like all the times before? "I do not know, my lord."_

_"You left your post, femme." He said flatly, "Without permission, you abandoned your post. When I personally branded you with the mark of my army, what did I tell you?"_

_Her processors dug out that file, causing her shoulder wheels to fall minutely, "'You are now a Decepticon and have sworn to never abandon your post or your faction for any reason. You have sworn to bring... justice... to those who have wronged this world with their corrupt reign.'"_

_"Sworn to never abandon your post." The warlord repeated with a sneer. He twirled a datapad around in his servos. "You haven't exactly kept that promise in the past four vorns, have you?"_

_She looked down at her pedes for a moment, "Negative, sir."_

_"You will-" Soundwave stepped forward, cutting the Lord Protector off. The silver warlord's optics narrowed as the purple mech sent a private comm. "- wait."_

_She watched them stare at each other with dimmed optics, indicating silent communication. Several expressions went over the Lord Protector's face. Anger. Disgust. Skepticism. Amusement. Annoyance._

_The spy's spark was tight in her chest and her tanks rolled uncomfortably in anxiety as she awaited her judgement. She hadn't ever really thought the whole sneaking-away-for-vengeance-in-the-night thing all the way through. She'd never even considered that Sky wouldn't back her up, so she'd never considered what consequences she might face for her insubordination._

_"It is decided." Megatron announced, sounding particularly dissatisfied with the decision. "You will be removed from __**all **__active field duty from this orn forward, unless otherwise ordered by Soundwave or myself, to serve under Soundwave in the CI department __**in any way he sees fit**__." The Lord Protector snarled this last bit in an unspoken threat. With a wave of his hand, the mech leaned back in his throne._

_"Dismissed."_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"Terabyte?" Raf asked hopefully, tilting his head at her. "Are you..."**

**Daintly lips quirking up into a little smile, she suggested, "Still an evil madmech?"**

**"No, Cliffjumper. I deserve to be punished for my treachery." She bit out, her tone venomous. "I became everything I spent this whole war thinking I was fighting against; don't keep me from justice."**

_**"From what I can tell, you are a long way from being a monster, Terabyte." **_**He paused. Lightly touching her hand, Bumblebee continued softly,**_** "And in all your vorns with the Decepticons... No matter what you did in that time... I don't think you've ever been a monster."**_

**Ratchet hummed, leaving his work on the terminals to face them now. "I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes... but these equations **_**appear**_** to be the formula for synthetic Energon."**

**Two days later.**

"Intersection of atomic coordinates indicate convergent tertiary structures..." Bulkhead muttered to himself, brushing the paint-soaked mop over the metal slabs the Bots had drug in from one of the cargo bays.

Stacked beside her large green guardian were several huge cans of white paint. Littered all over the bridge room were empty cans that he'd carelessly pitched over his shoulder as he worked. Miko leaned over the railing to look down at him impatiently, letting out a sigh.

It was Saturday! There was a monster truck rally just outside of Jasper, a Slash Monkey concert in New York they could bridge to... For that matter, they could just go dune-bashing. Instead, she was sitting here bored out of her brains, with Bulkhead spewing a bunch of scientific/mathematical mumbo jumbo.

"The absolute value of x minus z to the ninth power is equal to 9.32600033471% of-"

Arcee and Bumblebee slid the filled sheet of iron away, revealing yet another behind it. Bulkhead didn't even skip a beat, simply continuing to slap away with the mop. Miko groaned, ready to just be done with it all and get her Bulkhead back. "Aren't you _done _yet?!"

The ex-Wrecker didn't even acknowledge that she'd spoken. "-resulting in an asymmetric-"

Miko shook her pink pig-tails and tuned out her guardian's rambling, stomping off towards Terabyte and Arcee's quarters. She wasn't sure how long she could put up with Bulkhead being like this. How had she survived in Jasper, Nevada before she met Bulk?

She needed a distraction.

Ratchet looked at Optimus, his expression grave. Pulling up the scan of Bulkhead's processors from before, he spoke, "This is Bulkhead's neural net as you saw earlier."

The medic pulled up a new image, resulting in some self-satisfied beeping from the terminal as the download from his medical scanner to the cpu completed. The image showed the hotspot from before nearly tripled in size. "This scan was recorded just minutes ago."

"It is as I feared." Optimus agreed, nodding regally.

"The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Bulkhead's neural net..." He sighed, glancing at the sheets of formula that he'd spent the past two days recording. "I had hoped he was _purging_ the data, but he seems to be merely _transcribing _it."

"As it consumes his mind." Arcee concluded darkly, having hovered nearby to hear his quiet report after bringing in yet another sheet of scientific scribbles.

"By all indications and my current calculations... by the time Bulkhead finishes the formula, his thoughts, his memories could all be wiped clean." The medic stated plainly, his spark stinging. He'd put every _Autobot_ on this base back together more times than he could count. And as vehemently as he would deny it to himself and everyone else... losing any of them would hurt.

Arcee growled, putting her hands on her hips, glancing back into the main room where Bulkhead was continuing his mutterings. "But if we stop him, good bye synthetic Energon."

His engine rumbled in frustration and the distinct feeling of his own inadequacy as a medic. "You assume we possess a _means_ of stopping him. I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients."

Optimus glared at his pessimism. "I will not allow any more of our own to be sacrificed. No matter the cost."

Ratchet shook the images of graying frames on his berths from his mind. He'd always tried so hard to save each of them... He couldn't afford to give up now. "If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we could somehow coax it back inside."

"How are we supposed to get it back from the 'Cons?" Arcee asked, crushing the glimmer of hope. "It's not like they'll give it to us if we say 'please' and 'thank-you'."

The Prime didn't hesitate for a moment. "Megatron will bring it to us."

Terabyte glared at her midnight navy calves. The pedes splayed out into a wide base just above her feet in a very un-two-wheelerly manner. Yet another quirk of having a jet for a sire. Midnight blue wheel-wells from her alt-mode wrapped over her shoulders, framing her black front, the red lights in the center of her chest shining bright. Her golden joints and the windscreen that wrapped over her neck sparkled in the crimson light of her bios, accentuating the darkness of the black and navy. Her thighs, abdomen, and arms were the color of steel, also reflecting the red of her bio-lights and optics.

The colors made her want to purge. The physical darkness and evil appearance only served as a symbolic representation of what laid just behind her relatively new loyalties. A representation of who she had become under just slightly manipulated circumstances. She literally glowed with the hate she had allowed to fester inside her, which she had allowed to blind her to the Decepticons' wrongs. Wrongs that far outweighed what the Wreckers did in Protihex.

Even now, she couldn't believe the Autobots' cover story for Protihex. The Wreckers were there. They laid explosives while she watched. And her home burned. She had been there. She had witnessed it with her own - albeit young - optics. Both sides of the war had a dark side... There was no 'good' or 'bad' sides. However, looking at what Megatron and Soundwave had wanted her to be, encouraged her to be... She had no doubts as to which side pursued the good.

She ran a hand over the midnight blue plating on her lower pede, then reached up to stroke the navy mask and the matching m-shaped armor that framed her face, watching her reflection carefully in the polished wall. The base section of her finials bore the same navy, the tiny triangles of lights now gleaming redder than ruby.

The spy snarled at her reflection, the movement hidden behind her mask.

Her dark, red optics were hard, burning with disgust. The gaze in those horrible red optics sent a shiver of fear down her struts. She looked like a killer. Though in reality that shouldn't have surprised her. That was what she'd wanted when she joined the Decepticons wasn't it? To kill Ultra Magnus and all his followers for destroying her home? To repay them spark for spark?

It was supposed to be justice. It was supposed to make her feel better. It wasn't supposed to have ended like this. It wasn't supposed to have felt like this, looked like this.

Terabyte turned her back to her reflection, unable to look into those optics any more. Those optics that were her own. That were now softened and shedding pink, shimmering coolant. She looked evil.

All it would take was a paint job and a short visit to the medic. That was all it would take, then she could make herself forget. She clenched her silver fists tightly, setting her jaw.

After the war, she would go back to her original coloring. The colors of when she was in a world of peace. Gold and blue with yellow bios and no mask to have to hide behind. She'd lay down her weapons and _live_. Someway, somehow, Cybertron would be restored and she would raise her sparklings in a time of joy and prosperity and they would never have to live with the scars of war. They would have the life her creators had worked so hard to try and give her.

She had no doubt that one day this would happen. Somehow. She would _make _it happen. But the war wasn't over yet. And until it was, she had a lot of redeeming to do. Deep down, she would never be able to atone for her wrongs. She'd never be able to clear her name. But she, sure as the Well of Allsparks, could try her best.

Knock-knock-knock.

The spy pulled out of her thoughts, which had - primarily - grown optimistic, and cocked her helm at the door to the two-wheelers' quarters. Arcee wouldn't knock to come in, and Cliffjumper didn't have such a light knock...

Punching in the previous unlock sequence, Terabyte sighed. The keypad let out a smug beep that sounded like 'wrrrooonnnng'. Of course, Arcee would have changed the lock. She was back to prisoner status. Prisoners can't just punch in the code to their cells and walk out.

"Come in." She called through the door, keeping her tone mostly neutral, the hope that had planted itself in her spark not quite staying restrained.

"Could ya open the door?" A small, lightly accented voice replied impatiently. It belonged to the pink-helmed human girl. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not twenty-bajillion feet tall. I can't reach your button."

Terabyte laughed, kneeling in front of the door for better communication. "Actually, I am only about fifteen and a half of your 'feet'. Quite far from twenty-bajillion."

"Only." Miko snorted, "That's like, three of me!"

"Approximately." She replied, smiling. "Can I help you in any way?"

The girl hummed quietly on the other side of the door. "Besides anything that'd need you to come out? Um... not really..." Silence. "Oh! Wait here! I'll be _right _back..."

She listened curiously as light footsteps echoed down the hall as she ran off. Terabyte leaned her helm into the door, flicking her finials. "I won't be going anywhere."

About a breem later, her systems were falling back into recharge as she knelt with her helm pressed into the door. That is, until she fell on her face at Cliffjumper's feet, the door having slid out from in front of her.

"Good morning, Short Stuff!" The mech greeted cheerily, looking down at her as she pulled her face out of the floor. Incredibly gracefully.

"Morning." Terabyte said softly, her view from her spot on the floor consisting mainly of his left pede, silver and malformed.

Miko stepped forward, hands on her hips with a commanding posture, declaring, "I want to do something fun."

The femme looked at Miko skeptically. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"It's Saturday!" Miko and Cliffjumper exclaimed together, the latter offering a hand to help her up. She accepted it after slight hesitation.

"So..." She dusted off her pedes, careful not to shower the girl with dust. She frowned minutely at Miko, her blood-red optics sparkling in amusement, "Am I expected to be some form of entertainment for you?"

"We're gonna go get Jack, Raf, and Bee." Miko started, her expression growing increasingly excited. Cliffjumper finished out with a wink, "And you owe us a race."

Ruby optics came online, his processors whirring groggily into action. He groaned, lifting his helm straight with a loud crack as his neck-strut popped back into alignment. Rolling his shoulders and fluttering his wings to return feeling to them, Skyquake stood up and stretched, popping every other strut in his spine in succession.

He'd slept on worse... Though at the moment his processors were failing to recall a time. Normally he had... What? Someone else, someone he trusted like his own spark. Someone else who had always been there for him, and he'd forgotten that someone.

Twitching his wings as if to shoo away the conflicting thoughts and feelings, the fighter jet looked over to the empty berth where Cliffjumper had been. The mech could have woke him up, Skyquake thought grouchily, his back and wings sore from recharging in such an awkward position.

He needed to get out of here. To fly.

Skyquake checked his chronometer casually. He scowled. Twelve joors. He hadn't recharged that long since Prime landed him in the med-bay after Technahar. War didn't allow for twelve joor (two day) leisure naps.

For sheer curiosity's sake, he slammed a servo into the 'open' button, not expecting anything to happen. To his surprise, the keypad replied in Cliffjumper's voice.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" The automated message said in that annoyingly playful tone, "I hope you're having a grand time with that crick in your neck."

Skyquake shot the keypad a caustic glare, bending his neck side-to-side, popping the strut again.

"Anyway, TB and I're in the kids' entertainment center - in the main room - and she said that she'll put up with your presence invading my own overwhelming awesomeness if you choose to join us. See ya later, alligator!"

The jet fumed, stepping through the now-open door before it changed its mind. As if Terabyte would say something like that. Seriously, anyway. She might if she were teasing, but not relayed through the red malfunction.

Shrugging, Skyquake headed towards the main room. His tanks were still at sixty percent, so the mech didn't bother with refueling first.

When he got there, he was greeted with the sounds of laughter, engines, crunching metal, and cheering humans, all over the top of a long string of irrelevant technical babbling. Cliffjumper, Terabyte, and Bumblebee all leaned against the rail behind the humans' couch with dimmed optics. Bulkhead sat mumbling in a corner, painting on steel sheets.

He walked over to the entertainment center and stood next to Terabyte, looking down at the humans. Jack, Raf, and Miko sat on the couch, the youngest human clutching a gray console of sorts attached to the human equivalent of a vid-screen. An attractive - for a squishy fleshling - woman with soft, red helm armor lay on her front with her legs in the air, yet another gray console in her hands, her green eyes focused intently on the vid-screen.

One of the other two unidentified humans leaned against the couch with his feet sprawled in front of him, a familiar wide grin on his freckled face, a wild mop of brown helm-armor that stuck out every which way. This human also held a console. The last human was standing behind the sofa, resting his elbows on it. This one was just a bit older than Raf, with short blond helm-armor - 'hair' according to his mental English dictionary - and huge blue eyes.

"C'mon TB! You can beat him!" Raf encouraged, leaning forward to stare more effectively at the screen as his thumbs twiddled the console in his hands.

The screen was divided into three parts, a large one on top and two smaller ones on the bottom. In the top, a pink buggy was driving right next to a red vehicle with a squarish appearance, which also occupied the right corner. A third vehicle drove all alone in the right corner, and was burnt orange. The number in the top read '2nd', in the right, '1st', and in the left, '5th'.

Skyquake frowned, puzzled by the boy's words, glancing over at Terabyte, who had failed to acknowledge his existence, and by all appearances had nothing occupying her attention.

"Push your Nitro! Push it! Push it!" Miko shouted, giving no way of telling who she was addressing. "Awww... Lost it."

The red-helmed woman slammed her fingers into the console's buttons, resulting in the pink buggy crashing into the red vehicle, causing it to run over the barrier, over the cliff, and down to a watery doom. The man with the wild hair and dotted face groaned, passing the console up to Miko.

"Haha! Take that, _cliff jumper_!" The red-helmed woman laughed, racing over the checkered finish line with a triumphant grin.

Miko bumped her fist into the dotted faced man who was moaning dramatically. "'S what'cha get for playin' with the pros, Cliff."

"Hey, 'Bee, you want to have a go at it?" Raf asked, offering the console not to the yellow scout, but to the blond boy behind him.

Skyquake's confused scowl deepened as the humans exchanged banter using Autobot designations. One wing twitched back as he looked into Terabyte's blank, masked face, her red optics dim. "What on Cybertron is wrong with you mechs? And I thought you only had three human pets, not seven."

Terabyte made no acknowledgement of him, but the red-headed woman paused the game and twisted around to grin up at him, revealing a thin, jagged scar that mirrored the one that lay behind Terabyte's mask. The thin white line ran from just below the far corner of her left eye, across her cheek, ending just above the left corner of her full, red lips. The human female's features were eerily familiar.

"Seven? Learn to count, Sky! There's only six of us."

He pointed a clawed gray servo in the direction of a dark-haired woman with mint-colored armor talking to Ratchet in the med-bay. This woman was older than the humans at the vid-screen, bearing very close resemblance to Jack.

"Who is that?" The red-headed woman asked, tilting her head at the woman in the med-bay. All of a sudden, she disappeared with a crack of energy, right as Terabyte straightened, turning around to face the med-bay.

Skyquake's lip-plates fell into an 'o' as he put the pieces together. Holoforms. His engine rumbled in distaste. The red-headed woman was Terabyte's human holoform. Which meant the blond boy was Bumblebee and the brown-headed, speckle-faced one was Cliffjumper. Personally, he disliked holoforms.

Primus, the great ancient warrior who was the core of their world, did not give of his very spark just so they could go gallivanting as fake organics.

"You don't know the creature?" The jet asked, taking his gaze off of the unknown human, who was becoming increasingly disturbed by his scrutiny.

At his words however, the woman set down the piece of equipment she was examining and stomped over with her hands on her hips, her pointy black feet making a 'clop-clop-clop' sound with her steps. "I'll have you know that this 'creature' is sentient, and would like to be referred to with the proper respect, young man."

He stared at the stern woman, baffled by the commanding, carrier-like tone that she used with him. As if he had any reason to obey. His wings flicked in an unspoken protest to the window-less silo. He ignored it, focusing instead on the little organic femme that dare to give him orders. Skyquake chuckled, the chuckle growing into boisterous, roaring laughter.

"Sky..." Terabyte whispered quietly, acting as though she'd expected some other response from him.

"What?" He asked, still smirking at the human. She was glaring up at him indignantly. "Did you really expect me to _listen_ to her?"

"All I have to do is," He made a flicking motion with his servos, "and _splat_, there goes the snobby little flesh-bag." Skyquake rolled his optics, bending down on one knee to get a little closer to the human's level, causing her to flinch away in fear. He snorted, "I'm _vastly_ intimidated."

In spite of that, the woman took a brave - or foolish - step forward, glaring up into his ruby optics with steely brown eyes. Those were not the eyes of an ignorant femme, of a femme who'd lived a perfect, care and sorrow free life. His smirk faded and he watched her with a challenge in his optics.

"My name is June Darby, mother of Jack Darby. And with all due respect to your arrogance, my son has been risking his life to defend our planet against you and your friends. I should think that the trust that Autobots, and through them, the human race is investing in you and your girlfriend deserves a little bit of respect in return. By not simply executing you for your crimes, the Autobots and the human race are risking their lives - are risking our lives - so that you can redeem yourselves. So yes, we may be inferior to you, we may be weak compared to you, but we are risking our world to help end your war while you and your Decepticon friends think our sacrifice is _funny_." Skyquake's wings slid down in shame under the weight of her scolding. "Yet, we continue to fight to defend our world while you try to end your own race. I think that should earn a bit of your respect."

He cast his gaze to the concrete floor. The jet bowed his helm to the woman, who even after all of that, now looked up into his saddened ruby optics with a soft gaze. A gaze that very clearly wondered if she'd pushed him too far. A gaze of one who, in spite of her size - hardly a quarter of his height - was now wondering if she'd broken this twenty-five foot giant.

"I no longer wish to be one of them, Mistress Darby." The olive mech said quietly, "Perhaps one day I will be able to clear my name and thereby honor the sacrifices of your race. Until such a time... I am honored to have made your acquaintance and will do all in my power as allotted by my rank to defend your planet as I failed to defend my own."

A small hand landed lightly on his shoulder, causing him to look up into Terabyte's optics that mirrored his own. She smiled sadly at him behind her mask. He couldn't see her smile, but he knew her well enough to know it was there. "I vow the same, Mistress Darby."

"Thank you, Ms. Darby." Optimus said from right behind them, making Terabyte cringe at his side, moving backwards, away from the Prime, leaving the jet on his own. Skyquake showed no sign of surprise, though he jumped to his pedes, spinning on his heel to salute the Prime, surprising himself further by the action. He became aware of the gathered ring of Autobots watching. The Prime continued, "That is something I think we all needed to be reminded of."

"Optimus," Skyquake dipped his helm to the Prime. His wings twitched again, itching to be used. All of a sudden the circle of Autobots around him was making him feel severely claustrophobic. He needed to get out. But everyone was expecting a speech or something.

"I, uh..." His wings flared out, the ever-present fear of enclosed spaces starting to make it hard to concentrate.

Couldn't they just give him some space? He could feel six sets of EM fields - Terabyte's had been retracted to nearly nothing when Optimus entered the room - touching his own field, which, granted, as a flier was larger than the average. Did grounders normally have such disregard for field space?

Skyquake's engine growled, causing the Autobots to bristle, the quiet hum of charged weapons ringing in his audios. His patience was gone, he was trying _really_ hard not to just kill them all to make their electro-magnetic fields, tight with anticipation - which was only winding him up further - just _go away_.

"Would you all just _back off_ _already_!?" He roared, bringing a cry of fear from Ms. Darby, the other humans hiding behind their guardians. Miko was nowhere to be seen.

A clawed silver hand landed on his elbow, startling the enraged, cornered jet. He snatched the hand tightly, his fist swinging towards whoever dared to touch him, defensive battle protocols whirling into action before his processors even registered who he was attacking.

**"Sky!"**

The offender's terrified cry made his life-En run cold, his frame locking up. Her optics were wide and full of fear... fear of him. His ruby optics locked onto her face, and his gray, spiked fist that hovered an inch from her face. Every ounce of will to fight drained out of him in less than an astro-second, but he couldn't make himself move.

His wings drooped and his armor lie plastered tight to his frame as he realized what he had very nearly done. He backed away in horror, dropping her wrist like it had burned him, his hands raised in instant surrender.

"I-I..." Skyquake stuttered, his wings beginning to tremble. He continued backing away, towards the main entrance, the horrified expression not fading in the slightest. The Autobots all had weapons levelled on his spark. He wished they'd just shoot and be done with it. "I need to get out of here..."

He bolted.

She transformed mid-run, her tires squealing for purchase on the glossed concrete floor. Behind her, the sound of more tires followed. Terabyte paid no heed to whoever was pursuing her; as long as they didn't try to stop her, they didn't matter right now.

Her shock and fear had melted as soon as he dropped her hand, replaced with concern. In all the vorns she'd known him, the fighter jet had never let her see him so horrified and afraid. She didn't blame him in the slightest, she was unharmed; he was a Seeker! Seekers just don't do underground bases.

Honestly she was surprised he'd lasted so well. He'd only been on one - rather short - flight for more than two quartex. Fliers were well-known to go stir-crazy when confined. Abnormal, stressed behavior was only to be expected.

To her surprise, the mech didn't fly off instantly. Rather, he leapt - with the assistance of thrusters - to the top of the plateau the base resided in, taking a seat on the cliff edge. Terabyte studied the cliff face for a quick moment, plotting a course for herself before starting the climb.

Whoever had followed her ducked back into the base. Probably knew a better way up. The spy scrambled up the side of the precipice with relative ease: she didn't get to be Soundwave's second by being bad at her job.

Reaching the top, Terabyte automatically scanned for enemies, relaxing slightly once she'd done so. A shadow flitted behind a boulder, but she forced herself to ignore the two-wheeler watching them, though she nodded faintly in Arcee's direction. A spy knows a spy when she sees one.

Skyquake sat staring up at the clear blue sky, his wings trembling faintly - too faintly for anyone unfamiliar with fliers to notice. But she'd been around fliers most of her life. His cooling fans were on, and he was cycling huge vents of the crisp autumn air.

She slid down next to him, accidentally brushing his wing-tip as she did so, alerting him of her presence, stopping at a good three feet away. The femme didn't want to hurt him further by keeping her distance, but at the same time, her inherently distrustful programming would not allow her to completely blow it off. She looked up into the sky, watching a thin wisp of a cloud dance across the sky. For a long while neither spoke, content to sit in thoughtful silence; though Skyquake's side of the silence was somewhat tense.

"I thought you were going to fly out the wing-bind?" Terabyte asked finally, still cautiously keeping her EM field confined, not wanting to crowd the flustered, claustrophobic jet.

Her shoulder wheels spun at the mention of flying. Skyquake was the only one who would take her flying, and he'd been gone for seven vorns. She stifled a huff of laughter at the irony of her existence. A grounder that suffered wing-bind. Who would have thought it possible?

The olive jet's engine growled lowly, confirming her suspicion. He was punishing himself by not flying. And yet, not flying was the reason all of this happened in the first place.

"Sky..." She scolded lightly, dropping her mask to smile up at him. "What good will it do you to keep yourself grounded?"

"It'll serve me right." Skyquake spat, refusing to look at her. "I abandoned you to come rust on this dirt ball and seven vorns later you find me, and all I've done since is cause you pain. I deserve far worse than simply being grounded."

In spite of her perhaps better judgement, Terabyte let out an exasperated groan, "Seriously? This again? Let it go, Sky."

She snorted, her optics twinkling with laughter, "Besides, if you're going to beat yourself up over something, I'd go with the abandoning me for a dirt ball and some Energon. I mean, I'm _obviously _far superior to a lump of dirt in the edge of the galaxy."

The mech ignored her teasing tone. If anything, his wings drooped even more. "I received direct orders from Megatron himself, Tera... If I had a choice, I would have stayed. You do know that, right?"

"Of course I know that, you ding-bat!" She exclaimed, sliding over to bump him with her elbow. "Why do you think I'm up here? It isn't like I make a habit of chatting with random depressed rust-heaps that I _don't _like."

"I'm not rusty." Skyquake objected half-sparkedly.

She giggled. "So you're not objecting to being a random depressed heap, so long as you're shiny?"

This brought a smile to his face, though she wasn't sure if it was as a result of her words or simply her giggling. He always seemed happier when she was happy. Which was why she was here.

"Tera," Skyquake started quietly, his tiny smile fading just as soon as it had come. "I could have severely hurt you... I swore to you that I would never hurt you again. I-"

She pressed two servos to his lips gently, shaking her helm firmly. "And you didn't. So we're all good. Okay? I haven't finally found my best friend after nearly a decavorn just for you to spend the next decavorn beating yourself up over every time you twitch."

He looked back out to the beginnings of one of the spectacular desert sunsets Jasper was famous for. Finally, he nodded his helm. For several more breems they sat in companionable silence, Terabyte's sensors staying locked on Arcee, monitoring the femme's activities.

**Next Day**

"Ratch, I think Bulk's losing his mind." She stated bluntly, trying to hide the tears that were coming to her eyes. She would be strong. Bulk would want her to be strong; to tough it out.

The medic turned around to look at her, his sea-blue eyes sad and tired. He didn't respond, merely turning back to his dumb medical terminal. Miko choked on a sob, glaring at the old bot through her tears.

"You already _know_!" She shouted, backing away from him like he was a stranger.

Ratchet faced her fully, reaching towards her slowly, "Miko, we didn't want to frighten you... But rest assured, Optimus has a plan."

"_Optimus_ isn't Bulkhead's doctor." The pink and black haired girl spat bitterly, swiping away the tears that threatened to stream down her face. "I just need to know: when Bulk's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular ole Bulkhead... right?"

The doc-bot just looked at her, his eyes filled with pity. And that was all the answer she needed.


	39. Gifts

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 39**

**Gifts**

_"Shift..." She sat down next to her mentor with a deep sigh. The Prussian blue and black femme twiddled her servos, trying to think of how best to word this._

_"Yes, little Byte?" Makeshift asked, absently Shifting into a mirror-image of her for a moment._

_"I got... transferred off of field duty..." She muttered, pulling out a lap-desk from subspace and starting to deconstruct a datapad. For no real reason other than to occupy her servos. In a few moments, it had been taken completely apart and reassembled. "Um... Kind of maybe just a little bit permanently."_

_The charcoal and red Shifter groaned, rubbing a hand over his faceplate. "So the boss got wind of your excursions? Your precious half-spark didn't take the whipping for you this time?"_

_"He wasn't taking 'the whipping' for me. All he ever got for it was a couple warnings and a reprimand or two." The spy protested, "Decepticons don't give whippings as punishment for insubordination."_

_Her mentor gave a dark chuckle, but said nothing to convince her otherwise. He bumped her lightly with a sharp elbow, baring his fangs. "Come my little Byte. It's training time. If you're lucky, Lord Megatron may reconsider his judgement if you can figure out how to Shift."_

_"We've been trying for nearly a vorn, Makeshift." _

_Makeshift shoved a life-size cleaning drone towards her, catching her by surprise. Tossing the reconstructed datapad aside, the femme leapt to her pedes just in time to catch the non-sentient mech in her arms. She struggled for a moment under the heavy drone's limbs before setting it aright._

_"Shift." Makeshift ordered, doing so himself. He looked at her through the dull gray visor of the maintenance bot. _

_The femme took in a deep vent and focused intently on the drone, memorizing every tiny, miniscule detail of the drone's make-up. She dug around in her programming and activated the Shifter programming, turning all of her attention to her own t-cog. It sputtered and flinched multiple times before her frame was thrown forward into the familiar shape of her alt-mode. _

_"You have to maintain the mental image of the drone throughout the transformation, Byte. All you have to do is picture yourself in that form." He shifted into a perfect replica of Ultra Magnus. "After all, you do want to get back on field don't you?"_

_She knew it was just her mentor. She knew her mentor only wanted to try to goad her into Shifting. She snarled and transformed back into her bi-pedal mode. _

_Her transformation cog hissed with the effort, but she felt her frame beginning to twist and slide into another shape... The metal screeched as it was wrenched in directions it didn't naturally bend. Agony burned through her pain receptors and the femme hissed, ceasing the transformation and falling to her knees._

_Makeshift was soon crouched in front of her, looking into her gold optics with concern. Finally, he stated bluntly, disappointment clear in his tone, "You can't Shift, and you never will." _

Miko leaned over the rail dejectedly, watching her guardian slap the mop over yet another new sheet of steel. He was mumbling something about the quadratic function m squared. Optimus, Bee, and Cliffjumper had gone somewhere to try to get something from Megatron. They'd been incredibly vague when she'd asked them where they were going.

Arcee, Skyquake and Terabyte were in the storage room that had been converted into a tactical base, poring over a map of the Earth, trying to calculate the location of the other five sleepers in Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and Antarctica.

The girl reached over the rail and tapped on Bulkhead's head, capturing his attention for a grand total of two seconds. "Do you remember that time you watched Wheeljack lob his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?"

Bulkhead gave her a puzzled look, "Who?"

"Wheeljack! Jackie? Your best bud?" She laughed a little desperately, "Besides me, of course. Oh! Y-you do remember who _I _am, right?"

"Of course I do!" Her guardian chuckled, rousing her hopes, "You're... equivalent to the flattening of the oblate spheroid to the nth power."

Her shoulders fell as the tiny bit of hope she had managed to hold on to crumbled. She scowled at the precious sheets of formula that were responsible for all this. Ratchet was the best doctor she knew... surely he had enough of a head start to finish it himself?

"Internal energy of isolated 'e' remains constant..."

Miko's resolve hardened and she ran down the flight of stairs to stand next to Bulkhead, waiting for the right moment... As soon as the mop came down into her reach as the mech dipped it back in the paint, she snatched it away, scampering off with the mop dripping a trail to the human-sized groundbridge console Ratchet had built.

"Keep 'em coming, Bulkhead." The green portal swirled to life and she ran in front of it, waving the paint-soaked mop tauntingly. "You _do_ wanna finish your _formula_ don't you?"

She darted through the portal, still waving the mop. Miko didn't resist when the huge ex-Wrecker gently confiscated the mop and sat down in front of the wall to the monster truck arena. Already he was painting new scribbles on the wall, a bucket of white paint having appeared from seemingly nowhere. Subspace, Bulk had called it?

"At least _look_!" The girl muttered kicking the gallon bucket of paint. Her toes screamed in protest and she sat down with a huff, holding her foot and scowling. "You love monster trucks... Remember when we snuck in here after the show last week?"

"Mass times diffusion rate squared is constant." Bulkhead replied calmly, wetting his brush again.

Miko stood up again, gesturing to the whole area. "Is _any _of this ringing a bell?"

Her guardian gave her a thoughtful look that soon turned incredulous. "Bell curve? No, no, no... Wouldn't factor in."

"How about our Saturday morning dune-bashings? Rocking out to Slash Monkey? ... Helping me with my homework?" She asked hopefully, her tone growing increasingly desperate. When he didn't respond, she laughed weakly, "Ha ha! Trick question! You know I don't do homework... don't you?"

The mop slapped a complex symbol onto the wall. It reminded her of what her art teacher in Tokyo wanted her to draw.

"Okay." Miko said firmly, swallowing the lump in her throat and smiling. "Forget about the past. Starting now we can make new memories."

"The cube root of the exothermic Energon yield Delta 'e' violates Clank's Law of Energon Conservation." Bulkhead pointed out, glaring at the mop.

She sighed, resolve breaking. Hugging her guardian's leg, Miko ignored the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Bulkhead, I know somewhere inside, you will always remember me... and I just want you to know: I'll never forget you."

"Boo hoo." A gruff voice mocked, "I'm shedding coolant."

Miko spun around to find Breakdown and Knockout right behind them. She darted towards the exit tunnel the monster trucks used after each rally, shouting to Bulkhead, "Follow me right now or these guys are gonna..." The girl trailed off, changing tact, "Steal the formula!"

"My equations?" Bulkhead asked indignantly, picking up his mop and bucket, subspacing them both promptly. In a few moments, his heavy footfalls followed her own.

She ran into the storage area and motioned Bulkhead down. Surprisingly the big mech actually listened, crouching down to her level and transforming. "Okay, you park here and _stay quiet_!"

The girl pulled out her phone and dialed Ratchet. She'd put him on her emergency line instead of 911, so it was quicker than last time. Putting her phone to her ear, all that came through was static. She groaned. "Something's jamming it... Bulk, stay put. I'm gonna find signal and contact Ratchet."

She darted between a couple of monster trucks and peeked down the rows of parked vehicles. Knockout was coming up this row, kicking each.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" The medic-bot sang in his not-quite British accent.

Waiting until he'd passed, she ran out towards the far exit. She didn't think she'd have to leave, but the exit was most likely to have signal. If the jamming signal was coming from Knockout anyway.

Almost running straight into Breakdown's leg, Miko gasped and jumped under the Gear Crusher that the cobalt jeep had already crushed to a pulp. The Steelwheel, Champion, and King-Car were all pulped as well, not to mention the regular, non-famous trucks. Hopefully Fowler could come up with a good story for why a fifteen-year-old foreign exchange student just happened to be in the storage facility when all the champion trucks were destroyed, and how it was totally _not _her fault.

Yes! One bar! And... nevermind. She snapped her phone shut in aggravation, jumping out of under her newfound cover as it too was introduced to Breakdown's hammer. She winced as an enraged scream came from the direction she'd come.

"You _painted _my paint job!" Knockout howled. Her eyes went wide and she ran back in Bulkhead's direction. Maybe she could be a distraction... "Prepare for surgery!"

Picking up an iron pipe on the way, Miko arrived to find Bulkhead lying with a medical saw descending towards his head. Knockout smirked, "Heads... you must lose."

"What are you? Yoda?" The side of her mind not completely terrified for her guardian's life snickered. Her amusement didn't last very long though as the saw screamed closer to Bulk's neck as he struggled to reorient himself after hitting his helm. She ran towards the red Decepticon, roaring her best battle cry, swinging the metal pipe like a sword, "Leave him alone!"

Tripping over a piece of mangled monster truck, the momentum of her swing sent the girl spinning. She missed Knockout's leg and hit Bulkhead's instead, falling against him. Her guardian's armor began to vibrate uncontrollably and the Decepticons backed away nervously.

"Get down!" Breakdown roared, jumping on the red medic, eliciting an indignant shout from the vain mech as his paint was scratched.

A brilliant flash of red light shot out of Bulkhead's head, straight into oblivion.

Breakdown got up quickly and looked down at the blank-faced Wrecker. His tone was flat as he shrugged carelessly, "Dead battery."

"I did it again?" Miko whispered, her tone worried. Who knew how much of Bulk the data took with it.

"Megatron will peel our paint for losing that data." Knockout snarled, glaring at her with the medical saw still spinning. "So we're just gonna have to peel _you_."

The familiar whoosh of the ground bridge filled her ears, followed by the sound of Optimus' engine. The Decepticon straightened, chuckling under his breath, "Or... peel out of here..."

**Med-Bay.**

"The data has been fully expelled from his systems, but Bulkhead remains unresponsive." Ratchet updated grimly.

She sniffled, wiping her nose on the back of her hand, pulling her knees closer to her chest. "Because the energy took Bulkhead's mind with it: 'heavenward, lost to the stars'."

Miko burst into tears all over again, putting her head on her arms. She sniffed again. "It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula and it's my fault Bulkhead's gone forever."

"Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands." Optimus Prime corrected her gently.

Arcee leaned on one pede, her hands resting casually on her hips as she watched the comatose Wrecker. "If anyone would have backed that play, it's Bulkhead."

"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition." The red and white medic tried to encourage, "Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell... perhaps even a sound... could trigger Bulkhead's awakening."

She jumped up as an idea struck her. Running over to her guitar, Miko hooked it up with shaky fingers and picked up the instrument. Taking a moment to make sure it was tuned properly – as properly as possible since Ratchet had got a hold of it anyway; she slammed her hand down in the first chords of a song. When nothing happened, her shoulders slumped as she played a couple more just in case, turning up the volume several notches and ignoring the winces of especially Bee, Skyquake, and TB, whose sensory relays were more sensitive.

Miko was about to give up when all of a sudden Bulkhead jerked upright, mirroring her movements and echoing the last fading chord.

"_Yeah_! I love that song!" He blinked and looked around, confused. Noting her eyes, red and swollen from crying, he frowned, "Miko?"

**Tactical Bay - Two orns later. (26 days) **

"So, Skyquake was found at these coordinates, in the Northern America..." Terabyte said, pointing to the little red dot on the holographic map. She was starting from square one with the new calculations she'd made based on the limited information they had on the sleeper project. "And Blitzwing was found here, in the European continent-area."

Arcee took a step back to look at the whole map, letting out an impatient huff. "And like you've _said already_, the others should be in Asia, Australia, South America, Africa, and Antarctica. That doesn't help us know _where_ or _who_ the other sleepers are. Continents tend to be large."

The jet, who up until now had been mostly quiet, only giving his input occasionally, rolled his ruby optics. "If you would wait for her to finish..."

She continued, mostly ignoring both of them. They'd been in here, staring at this map for over a groon, and all of them were running out of patience. "From various historical data from the records of civilizations on the continents in question in the past seven vorns, approximately five-hundred and eighty-one Earth years, I've been able to triangulate the most likely location for one of the sleepers. I'm still working on the others."

"We sat here while you stared at a wall for forty-five minutes, for you to find the 'most likely' location of _one_ of the sleepers?!" Arcee hissed incredulously.

"Yes." Terabyte retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "I just spent forty-five minutes performing planet-sized cross-triangulations using extrapolated coordinates from nearly a million different sources. I doubt you could make heads or tails of the formulas I've been working, and creating myself as I go. Do you want to try doing the next set of calculations?"

When Arcee failed to offer any reply aside from looking away with a huff, the spy smirked, "Didn't think so."

She reached out and manipulated the hologram, zooming it in on South America first. "From what I've found - this one was by far the easiest; located most probably in the Sun Temple ruins on Machu Picchu, Peru." She made a green dot on the map over the mountain in question, glancing at Skyquake to see if he would guess the mech she was guessing would be the sleeper there, "This one also gives us a pretty good set of guesses as to who it may be."

Skyquake's optics went dim as he did a quick search on the internet. "A meteor fell in the area about seven vorns ago, the humans in the area dragged the golden humanoid mech back to their sun temple where he was worshipped. Sunstorm, probably. Pompous fool always did think he was Primus' gift to the universe."

"Precisely. He was rumored to wake for the course of approximately two lunar cycles - one quartex - every eighty-three years - every vorn." Terabyte said triumphantly, looking over at Arcee to see her reaction.

The other two-wheeler had a look of disgusted dread on her face. She crossed her arms. "If it is Sunstorm, we have to make sure he _stays_ sleeping. That mech's crazy. Makes Blitzwing look perfectly sane."

"Not to mention the effects the radiation emitted by his Shockwave-twisted spark would have on the human population should he be loosed." The midnight femme pointed out. "Even Cybertronians are not spared its effects long-term."

Skyquake snorted, "Before you both get your tanks in a twist, why don't we figure out who the others are. Sunstorm may be a dangerous, unpredictable, death-radiating fighter, but the Seeker is a coward when alone; he will not be difficult to… remove should he awake. We have no such guarantee with the other sleepers as of yet."

She was about to snap something about how she was working as fast as she could and if she had some help, things would go much faster, when Skyquake continued, raising a servo to silence her. "Since you've found a formula that works for calculating the coordinates, if you could send that formula to me, I can assist by simply - or not-so-simply - plugging in the... er, things."

She smiled at her friend from behind her mask, watching him fumble for a bit as he no-doubt tried to recall the correct terminology. Nevertheless, she data-bursted the formula to him, along with a brief set of instructions, just in case. The jet was competent enough in the mathematics, but his skill-set was that of a warrior, not a communications and intel hacker. It would probably take the mech considerably longer to reach an accurate conclusion, but at the same time, any help was appreciated.

A data request ping registered in her mind, causing her optic ridge to rise in curious surprise. Terabyte glanced at the pink and blue two-wheeler for confirmation before sending the same data-burst to her as well.

"Thank you." Terabyte said with a nod, acknowledging their willingness to help. Ratchet was most likely too occupied with the synth-En formula Bulkhead had spent the last three rotations transcribing.

Her mind reverting back to her days as second-in-command of the CI (comms. and intel.) division, Terabyte's tone was commanding, "Skyquake, I'm assigning you to the sleeper in the Australian region. Keep an open mind to your solutions, the continent is very small and the sleeper may be on a nearby island or perhaps even underwater. Arcee, you can take care of Asia. I will attempt to locate the Antarctica sleeper, as that continent will likely prove the greatest challenge. Whichever of us finishes first can work on Africa. I want a report from both of you as soon as you find something."

A team-wide comm. came in and Terabyte stiffened, replying instantly in clipped tones. She didn't even notice that her response was both inappropriate and in Cybertronian, her visit back in Decepticon ranks having brought back old habits, _**/Yes, my lord?/**_

She could almost see the Prime's chagrined expression, _/Terabyte... Please, do not address me in such a manner. I do not wish to be any mech's lord./_

_**/My apologies, Prime./ **_

_/TB, what'd we say about using English?/ _Cliffjumper reminded her gently. Again, Terabyte sent her apologies, in English letters this time.

Arcee shifted her weight to one pede, spinning the wheels in her calves. _/You called in for something, Optimus?/_

_/Bulkhead and Miko requested back up at the children's schoolhouse. He did not give a reason, but specifically requested Terabyte's presence. Arcee, take Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, and Terabyte and investigate the situation. Optimus out./_

Right at that moment, Cliffjumper burst into the tactical bay with a squeal of metal on stone. "So, you ready for school, kids?"

Arcee rolled her optics, glancing at Skyquake. "We're stopping by Ratchet first. So that our 'Con friend here isn't left unsupervised. An army jet would be a little out of place in the school parking lot."

"Why would they need back-up at school?" Terabyte asked, frowning. "And why myself in particular?"

"We don't question orders, femme. We obey." The other femme replied, already on her way down the hall. Cliffjumper just shrugged and gestured for them to follow.

The red-haired woman sat on the curb, off to the edge of a group of adults and kids. She was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans, a black v-necked t-shirt, and a white blazer. Her emerald eyes were just a little too bright as she examined the asphalt beneath her feet.

"Miko, if there aren't any 'Cons, the humans are all safe, and MECH isn't on the move, what did you call us all here for?" Arcee - using her blond haired, brown-eyed holoform - demanded, glaring at a random student that had come a little too close.

Terabyte smiled sadly at the little pebble that had captured her attention. Today was a very special day in the Protihexian culture. A day that both factions had many, many decavorns ago discarded, yet the neutral states had preserved from the Golden Age of Cybertron. It was comparable to the human 'birthday'.

She turned twenty-seven vorns this day. Her sire and carrier had always been middle-class in Protihex, so her sparking days were celebrated tri-vornly. As beings who lived for millennia, it didn't hurt anything to extend the gap between celebrations. They would have a huge feast to which all of her friends, family, and schoolmates or coworkers would come and celebrate her life.

The average Protihexian youngling typically did not gain their adult frame until they were twenty-four vorns of age. Thanks to Ultra Magnus and his Wreckers, Terabyte had been upgraded just a few quartex before her fifteenth sparking day. But this sparking day would have been one of the grandest celebrations she would have ever gotten. Her first sparking day as a full-grown.

Her last celebrated sparking day was when she turned twelve vorns. She didn't mind though. There wasn't a whole lot worth celebrating in a war.

Terabyte shook her head, whipping the curly red ponytail of her holoform back and forth, refocusing on the conversation the bots were having with the human children. Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, and Arcee all stood in their holoforms, watching the three children explain something.

"-irthdays are like a party to celebrate the day you were born." Jack explained, waving around two small boxes wrapped in navy and pink striped paper with glittery bows on top.

"And _today_ I just turned sixteen!" Miko concluded proudly. "Which means we're gonna celebrate."

Raf smiled, also holding two tidily wrapped gifts. His were smaller than Jack's, wrapped in a simple yellow paper, tied with pink ribbons. "Since it's traditional for the person being celebrated to choose the party exactly how they wanted it... Miko wanted to spend the day with friends since family is - um..."

"Unavailable." The pink-haired girl cut him off quickly, her grin fading for a moment. "_Anyway_, I was talking to Skyquake a little earlier, and today is _also _someone else's - what would you call it? Creation day? Coming-into-existence day?"

Terabyte stood up and joined the little group, her expression neutral. "I believe the correct term is 'Sparking Day', Miko."

"Okay, so it's also someone else's sparking day." Miko finished excitedly, watching the group expectantly. The overall reaction suggested that the Bots were simply humoring the girl now. "Can I get three cheers for... Terabyte!"

The group stared at the girl with varying expressions of inquiry.

"Miko, we haven't celebrated sparking days since the Golden Age of Cybertron." Bulkhead said slowly, his holoform - a six and a half foot man with dark skin and significant muscle mass - looked over at Terabyte accusingly. "I don't even _remember_ my sparking day."

The ex-Con spy glanced through the group, receiving various accusing and curious looks. She ignored them and looked over at Miko, "How did you deduce the date of my sparking day? I do not recall mentioning it."

"_You _didn't, silly." Miko laughed. "That's why it's a _surprise_ party. Skyquake told me. Now, let's try this again. Can I get three cheers for Terabyte, our two-thousand two-hundred and forty-one year old newest family member!"

Jack, Raf, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee started up a cheer this time, following Miko's lead. Terabyte's holoform's faceplates heated in embarrassment. No doubt the humans thought that less than two and a half millenia was a huge sum of years. By Cybertronian standards though...

**"Wait, you're only twenty-seven vorns?" **Bumblebee warbled incredulously, his young holoform stepping back to reevaluate her. **"That's almost five vorns **_**younger**_** than me! That's crazy!"**

She looked away, kicking at a leaf. A huge pair of sunglasses materialized on her holoform's face as she sought to hide her face. "I upgraded three frames early."

Even Bulkhead's demeanor towards her changed dramatically at that statement. The whole group broke out in an uproar of protests and angry remarks about the Decepticons. Terabyte simply withstood the outrage until the group calmed before correcting their assumptions.

"Alpha Trion upgraded me at my request. I was not forced into an adult frame, I chose to upgrade."

"But... why?" Cliffjumper asked quietly, his anger melting into sorrow. Undoubtedly, he too had thought her much older. After all, they all thought she was considerably older than Bumblebee. But honestly, what effect did a number really have on her age? Mentally she had matured, making upgrading three frames early logical.

"Like I said. The Autobots took everything from me." Terabyte's un-humanly vivid emerald eyes caught his own blue ones, that gaze speaking more than her words ever could. Finally, she shrugged one shoulder lightly, turning to Miko with a smile. "Being over a thousand years ago, that is neither here nor there. What do you want to do to celebrate your birthday?"

"_Our _birthdays." The pink and black haired Asian girl reminded her firmly. "First, we have to get the cake and balloons. Then we're gonna go back to base and party there, that way the others don't miss out! C'mon! Can I ride with you?"

"-so it's traditional to give the person presents and stuff to show that you're, like, glad they were born." Miko continued, taking a big breath. Terabyte smiled inwardly at the girl gripping her handles tightly. She hadn't stopped talking for the whole trip. "Which is why I made this list of stuff I wanted. I woulda asked you for one too, but that'd mess up the surprise. But Skyquake helped me out, so we got a list anyway. I hope you like what I got'cha!"

The motorcycle started slightly, swerving to the left a little bit, making the other driver honk his horn, flailing his arms in anger. The humans hardly even knew her - what they did know of her wasn't all that flattering either - and yet they would get gifts for her? After all that she'd done?

Her engine revved lightly as she felt a rush of inadequacy. She had not prepared a gift for the girl. She would have to fix that. Already several ideas came to mind.

Cliffjumper sent her a questioning ping from where he drove just in front of her. _/TB, watch the speed limit. You're practically touching my bumper, you're riding so close./_

_/Sorry./ _Terabyte slowed a little bit, back down to the mere sixty-five miles per hour that was law.

They were only about five minutes away from the base now. But that ought to be long enough for her to put together what she had planned. Then she'd just need to get a few things from Ratchet and it would be ready.

"So, what'd ya get me, Terabyte?"

"It is traditional for the recipient to be unaware of the gift, is it not?" She replied suspiciously, checking the internet for confirmation of that fact.

"Well, yeah, but you could tell _me_." Miko giggled, "I swear I won't tell the 'recipient'!"

Terabyte laughed, shaking the human in her seat. "You _are_ the recipient, Miko."

"Awww..." The girl slumped down in mock disappointment. Within a few moments, she perked back up again, her head tilting in curiosity, "Twenty-seven gorns right?"

"Vorns. With a 'v'." The spy corrected instantly.

She nodded. "Vorns. That's what I said." Terabyte smiled internally. "That's like twenty-seven years for a human, you know, in comparison, right?"

"Well... Not really. It's more like eighteen, when humans are officially considered adults." The motorcycle's tone went sober. "Except I became an adult three frames early, which was about eleven vorns before I was supposed to."

"So it would be like if Raf was all of a sudden put in Fowler's body?"

_/Pretty much./ _Arcee cut in, still fuming, on the team frequency - recently modified to include the kids' bluetooth earbuds. _/Which is why if Alpha Trion weren't dead, I'd tear his bearded helm off./_

Terabyte sighed, trying to ignore the angry revving coming from the other motorcycle, who'd pulled up next to her. _/Then I am glad that he is deceased, because he did not do it of his own volition. Besides, it was twelve vorns ago now. What do you care anyway?/_

Miko glanced over at Arcee, "She's got a point. You haven't exactly been best chums."

_/We've all been in this war too long... Trust doesn't come as easily as it ought to./ _

They sat in awkward silence for a couple klicks, until they got to the base. Miko leapt off her back and Terabyte flung herself back into her base mode, adding a defensive flare to her armor. By the girl's explanation, she got the feeling that this celebration would draw far more attention to herself than she liked.

She knew that Miko meant well by it, but she didn't understand how Cybertronians worked. All the respect she'd worked so hard to build with the Autobots - or at least what little was left from her manipulated betrayal - would now be lost. As if the Prime would want a 'rookie' on his team.

Leaning against the wall, Terabyte sat quietly in her usual spot on the steps. The others were in the midst of the party; rocking out with Miko, playing video games with Jack, or racing toy cars with Raf. Even Ratchet and the Prime had joined in when Cliffjumper had announced hydrogen-infused Energon.

She smiled, taking a quick sip of her imitation sweet-En. The femme had joined in when they sang happy birthday right before the cake, but between the 'refreshment-time' and the 'present-time', she really wasn't so sure that the Autobots would welcome her participation.

Skyquake put down the modified game controller - he had strangely refused to simply put together a holoform - and walked over to where she was seated. The metal stairs groaned in protest as he sat down beside her.

"Hey Terabyte."

Glancing up at him, she took another sip from her cube. "Hey."

"Why the long face?"

"What long face? My mask is up: how do you know I'm not grinning like a sparkling?" She asked, smirking nonetheless.

Across the room, Cliffjumper and Miko gave the grand finale to their off-tune – again thanks to Ratchet's meddling with the girl's guitar - song, which included screaming and twitching as they landed in perfect mirror splits. Terabyte winced slightly as the sound system let out an agonized screech, making her sensitive audial array reboot.

The jet cocked an optic ridge at her, giving his level best look of totally unconvinced. "I've known you for twelve vorns, Tera. You can't fool me."

"No fair." She muttered, smiling and bumping him with her elbow. "You told Miko how old I am."

"So?"

"So, my chances of ever being trusted again are already blown, and now so are my chances of being respected."

He laughed, making her scowl at him indignantly. "It's not funny!"

"You think they'll respect you _less_ for your age?" The green flier huffed. "If they've even got half a processor they'll respect you more for that. How many other twenty-seven-vorners do you know who've reached Lieutenant Commander of a whole division?"

Cliffjumper grinned down at her, startling them both by his sudden presence. "You should listen to him, Short Stuff. Jetbrain's got a good point for once. Besides, cheer up, it's present-time!"

With that, the red mech dragged her to her feet, pulling her behind him as he made his way to the center of the room, placing her by Miko in the 'seat of honor'. The 'seat of honor' consisted of a puffy leather office chair for Miko, and Cybertronian-sized replica - the chair Optimus used in his office.

"But this is the Prime's chair." She objected, attempting to rise, only for Skyquake to casually rest his hand on her shoulder enough to keep her stuck in the chair. He winked at her, a tiny smirk twisting his face. She stuck her glossa out at him behind her mask, "Evil mech, you."

"Happy sparking-day Lieutenant Terabyte." Optimus told her with a regal nod of his helm. The tiniest start of smile touched his lip-plates.

She bowed her helm in acknowledgement, hearing her cooling fans kick in from her embarrassment. It would probably be best at this point to just sit quietly in the comfy chair.

For about a klick, each mech brought forward their gifts, setting them in a small pile in front of her and Miko, and then once everyone was seated again, Miko looked up at her expectantly. "Oldest gets to open first."

Terabyte nodded slowly, examining her small pile of gifts. She was surprised to find that each one had gotten her a gift... They must have been planning this for a while. Honestly, the femme wasn't sure what to make of it. Normally no one bothered for her. She certainly hadn't expected the _Autobots_ to; especially since she was a defector.

For each other, sure, but for her?

At her hesitation, Cliffjumper nodded his encouragement, "You can open whichever one you want."

Finally, Terabyte picked up the tiny one on the top, wrapped in a simple hunter green paper, topped with a frilly white ribbon. Grinning like a sparkling behind her mask, the femme shook it gently to see if she could guess its contents. Since she hadn't even made a list, it was more difficult.

"It's from Ratchet." She said quietly.

Slitting the paper with a flick of her claw, the dark-colored femme carefully opened the little metal box and peeked inside. Shocked by what she saw, the two-wheeler glanced up at the medic with an expression of awed disbelief.

He crossed his arms, looking away to hide his pleased smirk. "It's not genuine Protihexian, but it's as close as I could manage. Try some and tell me what you think of it."

She just took turns staring at the medic and his gift for a couple of klicks until she decided to just try one like he'd asked before the audience died of boredom. Pulling out one of the silver drops wrapped in the familiar crinkly package, Terabyte unwrapped the candy reverently.

It had been eight vorns since Skyquake had found some of these for her and she hadn't had anything even close to a Protihexian silver drop since then. Lowering her mask just long enough to pop it into her mouth, the femme closed her optics to savor the moment.

"Thank-you so much Ratchet." She said, her optics twinkling with delight. Few noticed the sadness that lingered behind her happy gaze, the memories flooding through her in full force. "They're amazing."

Miko, not quite understanding the importance of the gift, grinned, "Candy? Awesome. My turn!"

The pink-haired girl snatched up the largest of the presents, wrapped in black paper that was patched in multiple places with duct tape. Miko took a moment to examine the patchwork wrapping before ripping into it with gusto, "No tag, but I'm betting it's from Bulk."

The ex-Wrecker chuckled, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "I tried."

When the gift was revealed, Miko squealed with pleasure, pulling out the brand new electric guitar, since apparently her old one had not survived Ratchet's 'enhancing' very well. The instrument was a deep red, edged with black. The strings, frets, and attachments were silver, giving the guitar a very modern look.

In just a few minutes Miko had it hooked up and played a couple chords at high volume, grinning from ear to ear the whole time. "Sweet! Thanks Bulk!"

The rest of the present opening went much faster once Terabyte had gotten the pattern down. Miko had gotten the guitar from Bulkhead; a headset from Raf; an mp3 player from Jack; a photo album full of pictures of Cybertron from Optimus; a denim jumper with an Autobot symbol stitched on, and a light blue t-shirt from Arcee; a new set of paints from Ratchet; a legitimate Decepticon-make laser pistol from Cliffjumper - which Ratchet had completely disabled so she wouldn't hurt or get hurt; and the latest game of Metroid from Bumblebee.

She now had the small box of ten silver drops - pure silver was rare and expensive on Earth, so Ratchet had gotten as much as he could; a new polishing kit from Cliffjumper; a display case and a designated wall of their shared quarters from Arcee; a datapad from Prime, one of the few remaining copies of _A History of Cybertron_, written in the pre-War era; a custom-made set of three gold wheels that perfectly matched her joints from Bumblebee and Bulkhead; a book of unsolvable equations from Raf, printed in the largest paper size made on Earth; and a collection of classical human music from Jack and less-classical from Miko.

Miko was currently opening her last gift from Terabyte herself. It was in a very small package, wrapped simply in navy paper. She watched as the girl pulled out the little device, as closely resembling a human flashdrive as the two-wheeler could manage. It was approximately the size of a small pocket knife.

Opening the cap, Miko frowned minutely, "What is it?"

"A waterproof, pressure-resistant miniature storage device. Unfortunately as small as it is, it can only hold about ten terabytes of data-"

"_Ten_?!" Raf squealed, nearly dropping his laptop in excitement, running over to gape at the flashdrive. "_That_ is a ten-terabyte drive? How is that even possible?"

Miko grinned, "_Sweet_! What's it plug into?"

Here Terabyte smirked, a little surprised, but very pleased with the humans' reactions. Jack didn't look like he even believed her. All three humans' eyes widened at her next words, "Anything you like. It configures to fit any slot known to man or Cybertronian. Simply press it into the desired port and it will automatically adjust to fit."

"Awesome!" Miko pumped her fist in the air, "This'll hold my whole entire music collection, my library, my video games, my- _everything_!"

"Also, the other side is a pocket knife." The spy added with a shrug, "Just as a bonus."

Jack and Raf shared a look, speaking in unison, "Okay, this is definitely on my wishlist."

* * *

**AN. My judgement of the typical Cybertronian "growing-up" process comes from enmused's bio:**

** u/4849961/enmused**

**Check it out for further detail. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed! Also... that flashdrive/pocket knife? Totally on my wishlist...**


	40. Ghosts of the Past

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 40**

**Ghosts of the Past**

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**A.N. Okay, first things first, this is a pretty awesome chapter, but I do apologize for it being so very late. We just had an international move to the other side of the planet, so, understandably, I was somewhat preoccupied for the past month or so... So yeah, late update. Should be well worth the wait though. **

**As usual, read, review, enjoy, etc!**

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_Red lights were flashing all over Kaon as the whole city went on high alert. Civilians in the streets below were screaming and running in a frenzy, but Decepticon officers were quickly silencing their hysteria, escorting them to the labyrinths to hide. Sirens blared too loudly for comfort, making her finials and helm ache from their incessant wailing. _

_The whole HQ was in lockdown and she had about half a breem to get to her post before she would be locked out. Unfortunately, since the Autobots were attacking in the middle of the night cycle, she was currently twenty-five floors away, already having climbed twelve flights of stairs. Full lockdown meant no elevators which meant there was no way in the Pits she'd get there in time. Twenty-five floors in less than five klicks just wasn't feasible._

_Swinging over the corner to the next flight of steps, the small femme didn't see the jet until too late, slamming right into his back as he seemingly materialized in front of her. The force of the impact set her off-balance, her frame straining as she tried to keep herself from falling pedes over helm down the stairs._

_Skyquake caught her hand just before she lost the battle against gravity, grinning at her in spite of the city-wide emergency. "You hangin' in there?"_

_"Grand." The two-wheeler muttered, rolling her gold optics. "Just grand. I've got three klicks to be twenty-one floors up from here. The Commander's going to off me if the Autobots don't first."_

_The green mech winced as they resumed their climb. "Can't help there, but I can at least keep the 'Bots off you."_

_The whole spire shook, nearly knocking the light-weight spy off her pedes again. Again, Skyquake caught her as the obsidian staircase swayed dangerously. Autobot shouts could be heard from the lower levels as the enemy advance broke through to the capital building. The battle here could determine the outcome of the war, and the 'Bots they would be fighting at the Decepticon HQ would be the best of their army._

_Her spark pulse sped up and her battle protocols kicked into maximum, her processors already supplying her with various scenarios and resistance methods. Tactics was not - per say - her strongest suit, but she was competent enough in the field. Weapons charged, the Prussian blue and black femme ran her glossa over her denta, tossing a glance at Skyquake._

_The jet nodded almost imperceptibly and they stopped running, standing their ground at the platform they'd reached. The spiral staircase gave them a clear shot at any who tried to climb up; they could cut the enemy down before they got any where close to them. Higher ground, the element of surprise, and an easily defensible position. Just the two of them could keep a significant number of the Autobots from ever reaching the more important levels._

_**/Makeshift. Are you with Soundwave?/ **__The femme commed swiftly._

_**/Yeah. What's the deal? Where are you? The Wave isn't happy.../ **_

_**/Inform the Commander that I am unable to reach the Communications and Intelligence Department, as I am over twenty floors below and lockdown was several klicks ago./ **_

_After a couple klicks without a reply her mentor sent, __**/Sure... you with Flyboy then?/**_

_**/Commander Skyquake is present, sir./ **_

_She signed out and took aim, cutting down the first two Autobots to begin the ascent. The Autobots far below started hollering and shouting, gathering around the graying frames, looking around for the source of the blasts. Skyquake pitched a grenade down the spiral, covering her finials in his huge hands as it blew._

_Nodding her thanks, the femme peered down into the clearing smoke, noting that while most had escaped the blast, the two grayed frames had become half a dozen. The masked two-wheeler took a calming vent, forcing her thoughts aside. They had a long, bloody orn ahead of them. She couldn't get distracted._

_A scream cut through the air and a Decepticon frame flew through the door two flights below them, crashing over the banister and onto the next flight down. She and Skyquake both snapped down into battle stance, weapons at the ready as they awaited whoever and whatever might come through the door next._

_Another frame flew threw, this one completely grayed and sliced in half, followed by the saboteur, Jazz and a small team of mechs. The white and black mech's Energon blue visor glowed in the dim light, making the sinister grin he wore seem only eviller. He swaggered up to them, his motions seeming to define grace. His pede-falls didn't make a sound; the silence attesting to the skill of the spy._

_"How's it hangin', mechs?" Jazz asked coolly, looking them both over. "Didn't know Megs still had femme-bots 'round..." He shrugged lightly, "Most've bailed by now."_

_She bit back a hiss, her tone coldly inflectionless, her gun-arm twitching. "It would seem you thought wrong."_

_"Are the two o' ya seriously th'only line o' defense?" He asked, his grin growing wider. "Well, I s'pose ya've got th' big guy for me. I owe 'im a couple wing-turns an' a ticket to the dark side o' the Well... That'll be a nice treat, won't it?"_

_It seemed as though he'd hardly twitched, but the half flight of steps between him and them seemed to disappear in the bat of an optic. The mech slammed her helm against the wall as he darted past. Next thing she knew Jazz was where she'd been standing and she was tumbling down the stairs. Throwing herself down into a controlled roll, the femme looked up to find herself crouched in the center of the saboteur's team with five sets of weapons leveled on her spark._

_Lost in the battle, she smirked behind her mask, ignoring the life-En that had begun to ooze from her helm. Her tone politely innocent, she gazed into their face-plates for a moment. "Hello, Autobots. Welcome to Kaon."_

_She sprung at one of the mechs, dodging blaster-fire and sword-point, digging her blade into his spark as she knocked him to the ground. Astroseconds later she'd torn the dagger from the graying frame, skiing between another mech's pedes, slitting his knee-joints as she passed. Jumping on the wounded mech's back, she fired her mini-cannon directly in another's face, blowing his helm across the room with a spray of fluids. _

_Venting harshly, the Prussian blue and black femme stood dripping life-En - both theirs and hers - glaring at the two mechs that were left, circling around her. _

_"Impressive." The blue and white mech drawled. Mirage, according to her database. Possessed a cloaking device. This should be fun... _

_The mech disappeared and she whirled around, dagger whistling through the air in a blur of gold. Backing up against the wall, the two-wheeler meanwhile fired at the other Autobot, missing as the stubby green and brown mech - Brawn - dodged, blasting back at her, grumbling all the while._

_She snarled as the mech's blaster fire hit her pede and shoulder wheel in succession, knocking her to her hands and knees. Scrabbling to get back on her feet, the femme felt an arm wrap around her neck. The femme's optics widened and she let out a little gasp of surprise. Mirage materialized behind her, pulling her to her knees as he tightened his grip around her neck, crushing the vital life-lines to her processors._

_"However, not quite impressive enough, femme." Mirage sneered, continuing to tighten his strong grip. She vented as much as she could with the pressure. Her engine croaked, her HUD filling with errors and warnings. The edges of her vision tinged black before shutting down. Her audial array shut down in energy preservation._

_**Warning: Insufficient Energon flow to processors. Stasis lock imminent. Continued Energon deprivation will result in permanent termination. **_

_The femme kicked and yanked on the mech's arm, elbowing him in the abdomen. Struggling as much as she could, the femme let out a staticky cry of pain as her fighting only made the mech squeeze harder._

_"Slag, just pass out already!" The mech snarled to her offlined audials, hitting her upside the helm roughly, sending a spike of agony through her helm as her finial snapped. She howled before slamming her vocalizer offline, along with her pain receptors._

_She felt the rumble of a mech roaring. She sat in the dark silence of her own mind, the dull pressure of agony that couldn't be fully felt through her disconnected pain receptors. The obsidian floor beneath her shook. The arm around her released and she collapsed limply to the floor, making no effort to stop her fall. _

_She lay there venting, feeling the simultaneous relief and agony as life-En flowed again through her helm. Several more klicks passed and she felt her audials click back on with a harsh internal screech of feedback before the world exploded with crashing metal, weapon's-fire, shouting, and grunting._

_Her optics came online in a flash of white along with her pain receptors as her whole system rebooted. As soon as her vision came to her she was greeted with the grayed helm of an unknown Autobot at the same time as the agony registered. _

_Forgetting about her mask completely, the femme purged her tanks, gasping in shock as her face-plates were drenched in the contents of her own tanks. The Energon dripped over and around the mask, rolling down her neck. She let down the mask, allowing it to empty before purging some more._

_Swiping her hand across her face, the spy snapped the mask back up and wobbled to her feet, her equilibrium thrown into chaos by the snapped finial. She pulled up her gun-arm and shot Mirage off of Skyquake's back, sending him falling down at least a dozen flights of stairs. The femme vented harshly, wiping more regurgitated Energon off her chin._

_"Tera! Are you alright?" Skyquake roared into her still-ringing audials._

_"Grand." She muttered rubbing the life-En off her finials. "What happened to Jazz?"_

_The mech shrugged, letting off a round of cybertanium bullets towards the climbing mechs, forcing them back into hiding. "Dunno... Pitched 'im over the edge." _

_Yet another team of Autobots burst into the room, some from above, some from below, and some pouring in from their level, blasting away. She backed up and braced her back against his, firing rapidly. Skyquake grinned down at her before mowing down the first line of mechs. _

_She smiled back at him from behind her mask, trusting the mech to watch her back. "Commence round two."_

The femme took a deep vent as the flashback melted away. Ratchet was trying so hard not to lose his cool with her, but she could still feel the daggers of his agitated mind piercing through her. She remained perfectly submissive to his scanning, just like the first one.

It was painfully obvious that her memories angered him. After all, he was the one who had to catalog every grayed frame their victories had left behind, the one who had to try to put all those mechs back together when they broke.

Her second session was going much better than the first had though, for which both mechs were glad. Also, her insignia had been switched back to that of an Autobot, however she had refused the medic's offers to renew her previous color scheme and gold bio-lights. She needed to have that constant reminder of what she could become so that she could prevent it from ever happening again.

_It was not your choice, Terabyte. _Ratchet sighed, trying to assuage the guilt he could feel her suffering.

_The hate was mine. It was already there, all they did was alter a few minor details to bring it out. _

He scanned through several more portions of her mind in silence, taking care to not comment on some of her more personal memories that he occasionally ran into. It was inevitable that he would discover them, whether he wanted to or not. Truth be told, the medic could very well end up knowing her better than she did by the time she earned their trust back. If that was even possible.

_Terabyte, Optimus never lost faith in you, and neither did Cliffjumper. _

Shaking her helm gently, the black and midnight two-wheeler put a mental hand on his shoulder. A sad smile worked its way onto her futilely masked face. _And you nearly lost a team mate because of it. You were right to have lost faith in me, Ratchet. You and everyone else. If you hadn't lost faith in me, I wouldn't be here today. For that I am grateful._

She could tell that her words - meant as an encouragement - had hurt. Ratchet huffed, pulling out of her systems and disconnecting from the hub, leaving her mind in blessed solitude again. Slipping a pain chip into her wrist, the medic moved on to tidying up his desk and pulling out another project.

"You're good to go. Decepticon thought-patterns are at 0%, yada, yada; go find someone else to mope around with."

Simply raising an optic ridge at the medic's brusque manner, Terabyte left the bay, passing Raf as she went. "Hello, Raf."

"Hey, TB!" The spiky-haired boy greeted cheerfully, pushing up the red glasses on his face. "What's Ratchet up to?"

She shrugged lightly. "Why don't you ask him?"

Terabyte headed towards the tactical bay with swift pede-falls, wincing as her helm throbbed painfully. She had just finished deducing the final set of coordinates for the sleepers in Antarctica and Africa - these last few orns had kept her busy with the humans working double time to make her feel welcome. She sent a brief comm. to Arcee and Skyquake to have them meet her there.

"No-rank Skyquake reporting for duty as requested, sir!" The jet barked out, saluting Terabyte smartly, a mischievous twinkle in his ruby optics.

Arcee followed in shortly after him, nodding politely in the two-wheeler's direction before leaning up against the wall and crossing her arms. "So what's the deal? Have you got more coordinates ready, or did you just want to ridicule the fact that we haven't?"

Cocking an optic ridge at the warrior femme's sour mood, Terabyte made note to proceed with caution. "Skyquake, report."

His optics went dim for several klicks before he muttered something about excessively complicated algorithms finally being out of the way. "As of... about two nanoseconds ago... I completed the task given. It appears to be in the middle of the ocean... At approximately -36.9334 degrees south by 128.8476 degrees east... Which would be off the southern coast of Australia."

She nodded swiftly, cross-referencing his solution with her own. Mostly she'd only let them help to make them feel better, doing their assigned calculations as well as her own. The two sets of coordinates matched. "Good. Any guesses as to whom it may contain?"

"Nope." Skyquake gave her a look that said, 'Seriously? I'm just glad I got that much'.

"Arcee?" Terabyte asked tentatively, mentally readying herself for the femme's fury, noticing with a glimmer of hope that the femme's optics had been dimmed the whole time.

The femme didn't say a word, simply sending her a cryptic comm. with a set of coordinates in Tokyo. She nodded to the simmering femme and activated the holo-map, putting in the new coordinates given by Arcee and Skyquake, as well as the other two that she had solved.

"Okay, we now have every continent with an approximate set of coordinates. As far as who may be inside those stasis pods... Unknown." Terabyte said distractedly, taking a mental image of the map before closing it down. She looked at Arcee pointedly. "We need to inform the Prime."

"I'll let you handle it... Lieutenant." The femme replied just as pointedly, shocking both defectors by her respectful address.

Just as she opened a comm. channel to the Prime, he commed in, _/Autobots, report to the bridge room and be prepared to move out./_

**Next Day**

"Hmm..." He shifted the canister around in his hands, examining the odd, lime green solution he'd spent the past two orns concocting.

He wasn't sure what exactly he'd been expecting, but it definitely was an odd color for Energon, synthetic or otherwise. So far, he was pretty pleased with it, all things considered. Here he was, tilting and swirling a potentially violently-explosive substance and he was still around to do so. This was very positive.

The formula for the synthetic Energon was so far out of his depth... He was a field medic, not a biochemist.

"Surprisingly stable." Ratchet muttered, shaking it again.

"Is that synthetic Energon?" A voice peeped from the ground, startling the old bot slightly. He looked down to see Raf scrambling to the top of the table with surprising agility.

All of the humans' fitness levels had risen dramatically in the year that they had known the Autobots; their muscles were growing stronger, their motions growing faster and more graceful. It was saddening how mature they were becoming in the short year as well. This wasn't even their war, but it's effects were still plainly seen.

Ms. Darby had pointed that out to him, forcing him to acknowledge what he had been trying to ignore. Their war was changing these children: for better or for worse was yet to be seen. And try as he might, he couldn't protect them from everything. He wouldn't be able to throw them back together like he could a Cybertronian if they were injured...

"Ratchet?"

"Oh, well, yes..." The red and white medic muttered, shaking the troubled thoughts aside. Pushing the canister into his syringe, he continued, "In fact, I was just about to test this sample."

Raf didn't even say anything. He just pushed his glasses up on his face, gazing up at him with the eagerness of a true lover of science gleaming in his large round eyes.

"I see you've come equipped with safety goggles..." Ratchet said with what he would refuse to classify as a smile resting on his lip-plates. No, he wasn't the least bit attached to these fleshy organic creatures. Not in the slightest.

Which is why the completely non-existent smile didn't grow at all wider when the boy exclaimed, quivering with restrained excitement, "I can watch?"

Ratchet laughed lightly at the boy's enthusiasm before he caught himself doing so with a disgruntled huff, thumping a large truck engine onto the table and prepping the synthetic Energon.

"Just add some of this to the engine..." He injected the Energon into the engine's fuel tank, watching intently as the engine thrummed to life, running smoother than ever.

"It works!" Raf cheered, jumping up, and punching the air with one fist, clutching his laptop in the other. Turning towards the entertainment center, he hollered, "Bee!"

"Aht-ut-ut!" He interrupted, silencing the eager youngling quickly, "This iteration of the formula requires further testing before we can even _think_ about using it for fuel, ammunition, or first aid... which is rather unfortunate, since our own reserves are at an all time low... With two extra bots to fuel - one of whom happens to be a walking pit when it comes to fuel..."

He trailed off before he could get himself worked up into a fine rage. Optimus had no reason to trust these defectors, and while Terabyte seemed loyal enough, she'd also proven to be easily manipulated. And Skyquake... Ratchet scowled, shaking his helm firmly. The mech had no loyalties to anyone save perhaps Terabyte. A mech with no firm loyalties was the last thing this team needed, especially when said mech was consuming fuel that would be better off going to mechs that actually cared.

"Our severely outnumbered warriors have been rapidly burning through are stock-piles of late, as the Decepticons continue to run us ragged and grind us down." He sighed, running a hand over his face in exhaustion and stress. Going through inventory with Cliffjumper and Skyquake certainly hadn't helped his mood any. "Natural Energon reserves are so scarce on your planet, and Megatron seems to have his oily claws buried deep in every vein..."

"But, if we can successfully manufacture a synthetic form, we could easily acquire enough energy to win the war." Terabyte cut in, examining a jar of the solution curiously, her expression unreadable behind her ever-present mask. "This solution appears to be fairly stable... When will it be ready for Cybertronian consumption?"

Ratchet's helm jerked up to regard her with curiosity. "Unknown... Perhaps with your aid, much sooner than later?"

"I did partake in some extracurricular studies in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry..." The stiff femme said quietly, trailing off thoughtfully. "I may be able to assist you, however, what I came to inform you was that Arcee, Skyquake, and I have successfully triangulated the coordinates of the remaining sleepers."

The medic nodded slowly, trying to work out why she was telling him, not Prime. He was about to ask her as much, but a data transfer signaled in his helm, running a strip of coordinates on his HUD. The package was put together more tidily than he'd received in a decavorn... since Skyquake offed Prowl...

He growled, shaking his helm and scowling harshly. He wouldn't go there. In the words of Optimus, he could not allow the wrongs of the past to cloud his present judgement.

The formulas she would have had to use to come up with such precise coordinates... and the fact that Arcee and Skyquake were able to even comprehend the calculations, much less assist in them. Surely these coordinates couldn't be right.

"Terabyte, how did you come to these solutions?"

Another data transfer pinged in before he'd even finished asking. Cocking an optic ridge, Ratchet opened the package and his mouth just fell agape at the complex string of pure, hard mathematics that was streaming down his HUD. Portions of it were incomprehensible even to him. He rebooted his optics and gaped at the tiny, dark-colored two-wheeler.

She simply watched him expectantly, like a youngling awaiting approval. His mouth opened and shut like a dying electro-fish for several more moments before he finally shook his helm in awe. "You're waiting for me to approve of this?! I don't even know where to begin!"

Ratchet's optics widened further as the young femme - now known to be far younger than anyone could have guessed - seemed to wilt slightly, though her poise remained flawlessly stiff and formal. She looked down, her voice almost perfectly free of inflection, "I apologize if my means of arriving at the given solutions were unsatisfactory. I realize that many portions of the formula were redundant; however, the solutions should still be accurate. If you wish to double-check my calculations-"

"No!" He blurted out, interrupting the femme's somewhat-rambling apology. He realized as soon as he'd said it, that his tone had been far harsher than he'd intended.

Raf jumped back slightly, hugging his laptop to his chest as he watched them with wide eyes. Terabyte's vocalizer slammed offline with a hiss of static, her armor retracting fractionally as she took a small step backwards. Her expression continued to grow more and more confused.

"My apologies, medic. I did not mean to offend you by my clearly inferior calculations, forgive me." She said tightly, giving him a slight bow as she continued to back towards the door.

Scrap. That's all that came of his marvelous social skills. Every kind thing he thought of always came out in a botched up wreck of hurt feelings and frightened younglings. Why couldn't Optimus' tact have rubbed off on him over all the vorns?

Slamming the empty syringe on the table, Ratchet stomped over to her, angry at himself for being such an old, uncultured fool.

"Now see here, young lady," The way she cringed away from him left a sick feeling in the bottom of his tanks, making his voice soften more than he'd let it for a long time. "You are a brilliant little femme, Terabyte, and if anyone tries to say otherwise, so help me I'll reconfigure them into a garbage disposal."

"But you said-"

"I said I don't even know where to begin!" He said exasperatedly, only halfway succeeding in keeping his voice down. "And I don't. There are parts of your formula that are so far out of my league I can't even guess what they are! How in the galaxy did Arcee and _Skyquake_ _**help **_you?"

The little femme's tightened armor flared back out, just a bit too much - as per usual. Moments later he received a concise databurst, initially seeming to mirror the one she'd sent klicks ago. At the bottom of the formula, she'd tacked on a brief, but incredibly detailed set of instructions explaining exactly how to successfully use the formula.

Giving a tiny, almost unnoticeable shrug, Terabyte said simply, "Instructions."

Ratchet snorted in disbelief at how little the femme realized her own abilities. No wonder she'd risen so rapidly through Decepticon ranks. One simply didn't get to be second in command of a whole department three vorns into adulthood unless they were downright genius.

Swiping a hand over his faceplates, the medic sighed deeply, studying the Protihexian femme as she awaited his response. He wasn't a huge bot, but she only came to just below his shoulders. So young too. The physical repercussions of having been upgraded so early... The strain it would have placed on her spark... It hurt him just to think about it. Too many innocent people had been drug into this War; few had actually wanted to join the war, even among Decepticons.

Optimus filed the report he'd just read and left his office with a stern expression on his face. Quartexly report days were never particularly enjoyable, especially given the events of the past quartex. Many of the reports during Terabyte's bout with the Decepticons were bordering on mutinous, while those of Skyquake and Cliffjumper were very plainly so.

Team morale this quartex was even lower than their Energon reserves.

Entering the medical bay to confide in his long-time friend, Prime found the medic standing with one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, thoughtfully watching Terabyte. The femme simply stood to attention, mask raised and armor flared, though she gave a deep bow when he caught her optics - now shining the color of human blood.

"Ratchet..." The scarlet and blue mech began cautiously, unsure of what he may or may not have just walked in on, "Report."

The medic just waved the order off to Terabyte, surprising the Prime further by the obvious growth of respect in the medic towards the femme.

She bowed again, "Skyquake, Arcee, and I have triangulated the coordinates of the remaining Decepticon sleepers, located in Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and South America." As she spoke, the Prime received a succinct transmission from her containing the coordinates. "As a result of this, I would advise immediate investigation, sir."

"More Energon on the move." Arcee called from the bridge room, interrupting the praise Optimus was about to give the black and midnight blue femme.

Instead, he gave her an acknowledging nod and made his way to the planet-wide monitoring terminal, closely followed by Terabyte and Ratchet. He leaned closer to the terminal, observing the Energon movements his second in command had pointed out. Beside him Cliffjumper moaned, "Again? I still ache from the beating we got yesterday..."

There was a muted crash as Skyquake hit the mech upside the helm, earning him a burning glare and growl from Arcee. The jet snarled, "As do we all, Autobot. Whining like a bruised sparkling will help nothing."

**"Cliff's right." **Bumblebee whirred despondently,** "We don't have enough fuel to even repair ourselves, much less fight Vehicon armies day in, day out."**

Bulkhead growled, "Well we sure can't just let 'em take off without a fight!"

"We _need_ more Energon, and this is the only way we'll get it. We don't even have enough to mine our own, even if we did, the Con's have their slimy claws in all of Earth's resources." Arcee hissed in frustration.

"Their recent activity suggests a familiar pattern." The Prime interrupted his team's debating. "They are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine." He looked over them all with weary optics. "Autobots-"

Ratchet cut him off gravely, "Optimus... if one of you comes back wounded... well, our reserves are nearly depleted."

He nodded slowly, acknowledging his old friend's concerns. "Understood. Activate the ground bridge." Looking back to the team, Optimus took in a deep vent, "Autobots, roll out!"

She sped down the green and purple corridor, closely following the other Autobots. Skidding to a halt on the other side of the portal, Terabyte scanned their surroundings carefully, taking note of the coordinates.

Transforming, the little femme walked up to the Prime with her helm tucked down respectfully. "Sir, permission to speak."

He seemed to regard her curiously for a moment before he nodded; apparently deciding that reprimanding her formalities was a futile effort. "Granted."

She bowed slightly again. "It is my observation that we are in Antarctica. We also have quite a large group of warriors, considering that our only mission is to investigate a most probably minor Decepticon scouting patrol. The coordinates we have calculated to be approximately the location of the Antarctica sleeper appear to be-"

Arcee, who had walked up with her, cut her off with a wave of her hand. "She wants to split up and check out the sleeper region."

Terabyte shot a sharp glare in the other femme's direction before turning her gaze to glare at her own black, pointed feet. Her fuel tanks groaned quietly, her HUD popping up with a warning declaring her fuel levels to be at 17%. She grimaced behind her mask. That would make for an enjoyable battle...

"Your point is a valid one, Terabyte." The Prime acknowledged, "Take Cliffjumper and Bumblebee to investigate the sleeper. Arcee, Bulkhead, and I will continue with the primary mission."

The red mech huffed gently then hummed in acknowledgement. Bulkhead, however, growled deeply from his engine. "You can't put the defector in charge. She's already betrayed us once; we can't trust a back-stabbing Con."

**"She wasn't in control of that..." **Bumblebee bleeped with a light scowl.

"I don't care!" The large ex-Wrecker roared, slamming his wrecking ball into his hand with an echoing crash. "Whether she meant to or not, Terabyte has proven that she's easily manipulated."

The black and midnight femme's engine rumbled lowly at the Wrecker's accusations, her guilt bubbling back up in full force. Bowing her helm in respect to the angry Wrecker, Terabyte spoke quietly, keeping her voice free of inflection, "The Wrecker is correct... I am a liability to your team, Lord Prime, and as such I do not feel that placing such a liability in a position of leadership would be advisable at this time."

Bulkhead huffed in agreement, crossing his arms with a smug expression on his faceplates, earning him scowls from Bumblebee and Cliffjumper.

Optimus' optic ridges pulled together in a disapproving frown, the characteristic double EM field - one of the Prime himself, one of the Matrix - pulsing in an undecipherable emotion. His tone was sterner than she'd ever heard before, "My decisions are not up for debate. Terabyte will lead the expedition. I do not wish for the matter of Terabyte's loyalty to be questioned again, not even by the lieutenant herself. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes sir." The team chorused soberly.

**An hour and a half later.**

Deep blue, clear ice glittered around them in solid walls. Perfectly formed stalactites hung from the ceilings of the glacial caves in which they were travelling. The incessant drip of slow melts echoed in the silent, majestic icy caverns. The cavern they'd just entered appeared to be a dead end, sparkling in a wet, icy mess of disappointingly _not _the sleeper unit they were hoping for.

She raised her right forearm yet again, checking the scanner's readings, pursing her masked lip-plates in annoyance.

"So what's the update, TB?" Cliffjumper asked, his flippant tone for some reason grating on her nerves just then. Most likely, it was due to her critically low fuel levels.

As if on cue, her HUD flashed yet another warning. _Warning: Fuel levels at 13%. Immediate refueling advised._

"The 'update' has not changed since a breem ago when you asked previously." Terabyte snapped, growling as yet another drip of icy liquid splashed between her armor plates. "From this point on, do not ask me again. If and when there is a change of events, I will be sure to inform you, understood?"

The red mech saluted sharply, making a zipping motion over his lip-plates.

**"Relax, lieutenant, it's just a scouting mission." **Bumblebee beeped in concerned confusion.

Terabyte's optic ridges pressed together into a worried scowl, which stayed hidden since she was taking point. Running her glossa over her denta in a nervous habit she'd picked up over the vorns, the femme stifled a heavy sigh, allowing her over-tightened struts to relax imperceptibly.

For a brief moment, she considered voicing the reason for her heightened stress levels, but finally the two-wheeler simply shook her helm and continued to explore the canyon-like cavern floor in silence. All of her battle protocols and proximity sensors were boosted to maximum and every now and then the slightly jumpy femme whirled around in a full circle in an occasional reassurance to herself.

However, the yellow scout was not about to let it slide. After several breems determined that she wasn't going to reply, he spoke out again, **"Seriously, I've never seen you so stessed, Terabyte. What's your deal? We've been at this for awhile, we can handle a little Con-hunt."**

"A simple scouting mission, you say." She sighed aloud this time, her black finials flicking back in annoyance as she snuck around a stalagmite with her cannon charged only to find it as empty as the last. "The last time Iled a simple scouting mission, I led mechs I'd come to view as family to their deaths."

She could still see the fear in Darkshine's pale red optics, the desperation mirrored in Shadowlight's as Terabyte physically dragged her from her twin's dying frame. And now she recalled the look in the Prime's optics for what it truly was: the deep sorrow of a mech who had had to make that same decision that had left her friends dead or mentally disabled.

The Prime had let them go that day. He let them go because he understood.

Terabyte's troubled thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a small crevice in the icy wall beside her. According to her scans, there was a decent sized cavern on the other side, but neither Cliffjumper nor Bumblebee would fit through the gap. She, however, would.

"Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, stand guard here." The black and midnight blue two-wheeler ordered, already starting to squeeze herself through the gap in the ice, flattening her armor tightly to her frame to fit. "I'm going to investigate the cavern on the other side. If I do not return in a groon, return to Optimus." She raised a servo to the red warrior's instant objections, silencing him quickly, "That is an order, soldier, and it isn't up for debate."

With a slight grunt, the small femme pushed herself the rest of the way through, wincing at the harsh screech of metal as the jagged ice scratched into her chest-plates. Once on the other side, she charged up her mini-cannon and extended her dagger, repressing a growl as the whole cavern glowed red.

She looked around carefully, crouching down to a ready position and flaring her armor back to its usual position. Her deep ruby bio-lights dimmed as she entered stealth mode. Determining the area to be safe enough, Terabyte rose and silent as a ghost, began her exploration of the small, dead-end cavern.

Hardly a klick later, a bright glint of gold - bringing the instant thought of her own optics, soon replaced with recollection of the fact that her optics now shone scarlet - made the femme swing around to level her cannon on the source. A sealed cybertanium door, air-locked, with a clear window at the top revealing the silhouette of a mech's helm.

Rubbing a hand over the window, the femme stared at the dim, unshining golden optics on a face-plate hidden behind a silver mask. The white helm's design was unlike any she'd seen, except possibly in pictures of the Golden Age Cybertronians. The mech appeared to be an exceptionally large, white jet, accented with scarlet strips.

So far as she could see, the mech lacked any distinguishingly Decepticon or Autobot traits, seeming by all appearances - aside from the pointed, purple Decepticon insignia on his cockpit - to be a neutral.

She shrugged gently, smiling behind her midnight blue mask, muttering under her breath, "Must've caught the light of my optics just right."

Two servos lifted to touch the base of her right finial gently as she opened the comm link. _/Cliff? Bee? It's all clear, see if you can widen the gap enough to get through. The sleeper is well and truly still asle-/_

She trailed off, listening intently in the near-deafening silence.

_/Short Stuff? What's up?/ _

A high-pitched, hissing squeal pierced the cold air, making the femme pause and glance around suspiciously. Last time she heard that kind of hissing, it resulted in her whole city burning. _/It would seem the ghosts of the past are determined to haunt me this orn... I'll get back to you. Terabyte out./_

Gentle misty fog began to puff up around the half-way buried stasis pod, but it dissipated quickly and soon the hissing came to an abrupt stop. Silence fell in the cavern, aside from a slow, steady drip from some melting stalactite.

She sighed softly, shaking her helm with another wry smile. _/All is well. The sleeper sleeps. I just need a good, long defrag. I will meet you to assess the situation momentarily./_

Staring back into those dim, gold optics, Terabyte ran a curious servo along the edge of the stasis pod door.

_See? _She thought to herself, _Nothing to worry about. Just a simple scouting mission: no ambush, no dying, no catastrophe - just a drippy cave with a sleeping-_

The gold optics flashed online, nearly blinding her wide, unprepared optics. At that exact moment a frozen hand the size of her helm clamped down on her arm with a tiny sizzle.

She screamed.

Trying to yank her arm away from the rising warrior, Terabyte shrieked even louder, slicing her dagger through the air, trying to detach her attacker. Instead, she only sliced the door off its hinges, allowing the massive white jet to fall forwards towards her with those piercingly bright yellow optics locked on her own.

Cliffjumper and Bumblebee were yelling at her both through the comms and with their voices, echoing through the glacier system, making the mech grasping her arm hiss.

Tripping over a stalagmite, Terabyte narrowly avoided being impaled by another one as the two Cybertronians fell to the ground with a resounding crash. She took in several deep, steadying breaths as she forced herself to calm down, feeling her spark racing.

The white mech's grip never faltered, and she was pinned between his arm and the wall. The mech lay in a crumpled heap beside her, his wing and arm preventing her from moving. Whoever he was, he was huge, bigger even than Skyquake, Megatron, or the Prime. Probably about Blitzwing-sized.

**"Who arrrkkkzzzzt- are... you?" **The jet forced out through static-filled vocalizers.

She squirmed and shoved against the mech's arm, but it seemed to be completely immobile. Something must have malfunctioned in the waking process, slowing the onlining of several of his systems, including motor functions.

**"I am Lieutenant Terabyte of Autobot Outpost Omega 1." **The little femme answered crisply, reverting easily to the Cybertronian language, though this mech's words were somewhat strange to her. Like those in the old datapads in the Archives. **"State your name, rank, and intent."**

**"Jetfire, scientist... I am here to guard the Energon resources of this planet until such time as the Cybertronian people require it." **The white jet replied with an air of pride. Parts of his frame were beginning to regain mobility, twitching spasmodically.

Cocking an optic at the way he referred not to any faction, but to the Cybertronians as a whole, Terabyte finally shoved herself out from under the mech, at about the same time as he was able to raise himself to an upright position. Ice cracked in the cavern's roof as he tried to stand, only to find himself too large for the cavern.

_/Cliffjumper, Bumblebee! Enough!/ _Terabyte groaned as her helm began to ache from the two Autobot mechs' frantic shouting; comm-link and vocal. _/I am fine. The Decepticon is awake, but as of yet poses no apparent threat./_

_/So the guy's so docile that you screamed like you just found a nest of Spark-eaters?/ _Cliffjumper replied, his messy glyphs oozing with skepticism.

_/I do believe that should I at some point find a nest of Spark-eaters, your comparison will be proven quite flawed./ _She sent back stiffly, the level of concern brought by her leading role not allowing for humor. _/What is your ETA?/_

_**/C'mon, Terabyte, loosen up: you said it yourself, there's no threat./ **_Bumblebee practically pleaded, adding as a sidenote, _**/ETA, half a breem./**_

_/Advice noted. Lieutenant Terabyte out./ _

She looked over at the white shuttle-jet crouching in the cramped cavern, intently studying a dirty chunk of ice with a pleased expression on his focused face-plates.** "Fascinating! This planet never ceases to amaze me... When first I arrived on this planet nearly five decavorns ago, this region was incredibly different!"**

Five _deca_vorns? The War was still a relatively new thing at that point... the Age of Rust having just passed... Optimus had only just received the Matrix after purging Vector Sigma of the virus-like Dark Energon that Megatron was rumored to have discovered and planted in the planet's core. This mech would have no idea how far the War had gone... How far the Cybertronian people had allowed themselves to fall...

Still baffled by that progression of thought, Terabyte spoke slowly, **"Your stasis pod appears to have malfunctioned from long-time exposure to the harsh climate of the area... You say this is your first time to wake on this planet since the beginning of your mission decavorns ago?"**

**"Yes, yes, it does appear to have mistimed my awakening... Might I ask how Cybertron has progressed? Has the great Megatronus yet brought on a new Golden Age?" **Jetfire asked distractedly, now poking around at the open stasis pod's frozen internals.

Dusting an accumulated layer of frost from her finials, the femme checked her chronometer. The rest of her team would be in in approximately one more klick. **"Jetfire..." **She didn't have the spark to just come out with the truth. Perhaps given time, and one more eloquent than herself to break it to him. **"Much has happened in your sleep. Shall we discuss the matter in further detail at our base?"**

Cliffjumper and Bumblebee barged in just then with weapons charged and ready to fire, their frames heated from the exertion it took to break their way in. The red mech slammed two matching plasma blasters into the white mech's chest, scorching the pristine paint and the etched Decepticon insignia. "Hands on your helm, Decepticon! Now!"

**"You may speak an odd dialect, but your intentions are clear." **Jetfire looked over at her with betrayal glowing in his golden optics. **"These mechs are your friends? You failed to mention that you were sent by the Council..."**

**"Jetfire, please, do not jump to conclusions, my friends' actions are rash. We mean you no harm." **The midnight navy and black femme glared at the two mechs whose weapons were still charged, noting the way the whole cavern shone red from her brightened bio-lights. Bumblebee subspaced his blasters with an acknowledging buzz, but Cliffjumper didn't budge.

Sent by the Council? She shook her helm slightly. They could worry about taking history lessons later. For right now, she had more important things to deal with.

"Cliff? Please cooperate." She asked gently, but firmly enough for it to be clear that she meant it.

The red warrior jiggled the blaster against the white mech's chest in a playful manner. "Respectfully, and all, the guy'sa Con. You can't just ask him over for tea when he decides not to bother _murdering_ you for a few breems."

"Cliffjumper..." She warned, taking a step forward, her tone growing darker as she raised her mini-cannon to his spark.

_Warning: Fuel levels critical. 7% remaining. Insufficient fuel for weapons' fire. Immediate refueling advised. Stasis lock imminent._

Her finials flicked at the hardly audible whirr of another set of blasters starting up, the crawling feeling on her flared armor alerting her to the fact that Bumblebee now had his weapons trained on her. Of course, the scout had very little reason to trust her judgement at this point, but she knew what she was doing.

Shoot Cliffjumper? No, she wasn't going to shoot him, that would be absurd and pointless, not to mention that being on half rations, she didn't have the energy to. But they couldn't afford to let another mech join the Decepticons' ever-growing ranks, and the red warrior was going to make that practically inevitable if he didn't stand down.

"That was a friendly request. This is not. Stand down now, or preventative action will be taken."

**"Lieutenant!" **Bumblebee shrilled in shocked indignation, **"What in the galaxy do you think you're doing? Threatening to shoot your subordinates to defend a Con?"**

Not taking her optics off Cliffjumper for an astrosecond, Terabyte's scarlet optics shone with worried determination. If this didn't work... she cut herself off with a shake of her helm. She'd worry about that when and if the occasion arrived. Speaking to both of them, the two-wheeler shifted her charged cannon slightly. "Trust me on this. Please... Just, trust me."

"Says the femme with a fusion cannon levelled on my spark: the same femme who blew my leg off last time she pointed a gun at me. Sure, I trust you." Cliffjumper snarled, "I trust you to keep betraying us, no matter how many times I put my spark on the line for you, you'll just keep blowing your chances."

She blinked, gun-arm dropping as if dead. And she blinked again. Just to see if she was somehow missing something. Her mask fell and her armor collapsed against her frame as she took a shocked step away from Cliffjumper, her deep red optics wide. Her mouth opened and closed several times to voice her objections, but all her vocalizers could come up with was a harsh static.

As coolant began to pool in her optics, Terabyte shut the systems down stubbornly, slamming her mask back into place, flaring her armor out just past relaxed - as usual. No time for sentiment. Straightening, the two-wheeler rolled her shoulder wheels in the only sign of the inward turmoil the red mech's words had just caused.

Of all the people to say such things - things that she knew they were all thinking - she'd never expected Cliffjumper to be the one to voice them so painfully. Of course they had no reason to trust her. She was a defector. A defector who had already betrayed them multiple times and she wasn't even a year in. At this point, there was an 97% chance that she would never gain their trust. Not completely.

Clearing her vents, Terabyte pulled her shattered thoughts back together. They still had a mission to complete. She could deal with how she felt later. **"I- Your point is valid, Cliffjumper, and duly noted. For the time being however, my order remains. Stand down..." **Glancing at Jetfire, then at Cliffjumper, she switched back to English, her tone revealing only a tiny portion of her pain, "Please? You don't need to trust me... Just trust the numbers. We're already outnumbered... we can't afford to miss this opportunity."

To her immense relief, the mech lowered his weapons slowly, his blasters transforming back into his hands. Stepping away from the huge white jet, Cliffjumper grinned widely at her, as though nothing had happened. As though he hadn't just crushed every ounce of hope she'd built up since they rescued her.

Jetfire cleared his vents loudly to gain all their attention, **"Now that that's dealt with... Shall we?"**


	41. Tension

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 41**

**Tension**

* * *

**Disclaimer: By the way, for any of my amazing readers who were under the impression that I am far awesomer than I am - for which I am immensely grateful - I do not, in fact, own Transformers or the Transformers: Prime series. I do however, own my OCs and sub-plots.**

* * *

_No one ever came down this way, not usually. She continued silently along the dark, musty, abandoned halls, her practiced pede-falls making no sound at all in the total quiet. The two-wheeler rolled a shoulder wheel slowly in its guard, taking in a deep, shuddery vent of exhaustion. _

_The past few orns had been long and tasking; the whole Decepticon army - whoever wasn't scouting or defending the front lines - had been set to the huge task of repairing the damage caused by the Autobot attack on HQ. Sky, Dread, Thunderblast, Nightracer, and Makeshift were all out on missions, so in her off-time - all three groons of it - she figured she'd go see Shadowlight. _

_It had been a little while since her last visit._

_Knocking gently on the jet's locked door, she put in the code and opened it slowly, making her pede-falls loud enough to make sure her presence was known. When the silver jet didn't rush out to greet her in a flurry of excitement, the spy frowned. That was a bit odd. Maybe the other femme was in recharge?_

_"Shadow?" She called out, looking around the well-lit, well decorated little apartment that she'd helped renovate the quarantine cell into. "Hello?"_

_All the sofas and chairs were wrapped in a clear-ish crinkly plastic, the table in the center had been cleared and dismantled, and the vid-screen and holovid collection had been moved somewhere. The Energon cabinets were all empty and the dispenser flickered forlornly in its little corner._

_The spy scowled, her anxiety growing by the nano. "Shadowlight! It's Terabyte, I've brought you a present... I'm sorry I couldn't get back here before now... You aren't mad are you? Shadow?"_

_Her motions were rushed and frantic at this point, and the little two-wheeler was almost running through the apartment, looking behind all of the storage-wrapped furniture she'd slowly brought in on her tight budget. "Shadow? Shadowlight!"_

_She pulled out her hard-link connector, plugging it into the computer directly, wincing at the spike of pain that went through her as she did so. Scanning through the whole entire database for any files mentioning quarantine transfers, Shadowlight, asylums, prisoner manifests, and any other orders from high command that could possibly give her a clue to the jet's location... No results found._

_Her scowl deepened further at the empty results. Trying again, the spy broadened the search to anything at all regarding Shadowlight, from the beginning of the War to date. _

_The computer binged loudly, reading: "Identity 'Shadowlight' not found. No records pertaining to this name. Would you like to try again? Yes/No."_

_Transforming angrily, the femme shot off out the door and began making her way directly to Soundwave's office, her tires squealing on the obsidian floors, leaving the smell of burnt rubber behind her. All records that Shadowlight even existed were wiped completely from the database. She didn't care how much damage the Autobots had done to the systems, only a skilled person with that intent could have done that._

_In a matter of moments, the small Protihexian two-wheeler burst through her commander's office doors, transforming before she'd even stopped. Landing gracefully on her pedes, she slammed her hands down on the commander's desk, glaring at him with furious gold optics._

_"Where is Shadowlight?" She roared, "What have you done with her?!"_

_The stoic purple head of the Communications and Intelligence department just watched her calmly with the same unchangingly blank visor. Megatron's voice boomed out of him impatiently, "Calm yourself, soldier."_

_She fumed behind her mask, too worked up to keep her normal formalities in consideration. "No! Don't tell me to 'calm myself'! This is my friend we're talking about, whose very __**existence**__ has been purged from the system! What have you done with her?!"_

_Makeshift's voice chuckled at her, "Chill, kid... That's none of your business."_

_"Where is she?" The femme yelled, her suspicions only growing. This wasn't how the Decepticons worked; they didn't just tuck people away and erase them. There must have been some sort of mistake. "Where did you take her? Tell me!"_

_Soundwave didn't say another word. He didn't have to. She could see it, deep in the abyss of his empty face. _

_The two-wheeler straightened, her firm grip over herself returning as her frame pulled back stiffly to attention, her armor flaring just past relaxed. Her tone once again inflectionless, the spy slid her glossa over her denta slowly, still fuming within, "Sir... I am never going to see Shadowlight again, am I."_

_It wasn't a question. It didn't need to be._

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"Now see here, young lady," The way she cringed away from him left a sick feeling in the bottom of his tanks, making his voice soften more than he'd let it in a long time, "You are brilliant little femme, Terabyte, and if anyone tries to say otherwise, so help me I'll turn them into a garbage disposal."**

**"Optimus... If one of you comes back wounded... well, our reserves are nearly depleted."**

_**"Jetfire, scientist... I am here to guard the Energon resources of this planet until such time as the Cybertronian people require it."**_

**"Trust me on this. Please... Just, trust me."**

**"Says the femme with a fusion cannon levelled on my spark: the same femme who blew my leg off last time she pointed a gun at me. Sure, I trust you." Cliffjumper snarled, "I trust you to keep betraying us, no matter how many times I put my spark on the line for you, you'll just keep blowing your chances."**

**Jetfire cleared his vents loudly to gain all their attention, "Now that that's dealt with, shall we?"**

**Two Hours Ago, Autobot Base**

The green fighter jet watched the team disappear through the ground bridge one by one before it closed down with a crackle of energy. He cocked an optic ridge, muttering, "I will just, uh, keep the medic safe then."

The Prime hadn't left him with any orders before they all headed out to investigate some moving Energon signal. In fact, the Autobot leader hadn't even acknowledged that he was standing there.

"Sometimes I wish I could do more." Ratchet sighed, turning back towards the med-bay without even glancing at him.

Shrugging his spiked shoulders, Skyquake followed the medic to his corner of the base. Until the grouchy med-bot decided to skip protocols of not leaving the defector to his own devices and shoo him off, he would just tag along. Maybe the medic had something he could help with. It wasn't like their training area was any use after he'd been through it earlier.

He watched with curiousity as the red and white mech's optics narrowed. In his hands was a syringe of some weird green medical goo. As he gazed on, Ratchet stabbed the syringe into his arm, seeming as he did so to notice the jet for the first time. Recognition and mild worry flashed across his face-plates for a nano.

Ratchet's green-blue optics dimmed out and the medic swayed slightly before crashing to the floor.

"Well. That worked well." Skyquake commented drily, picking up a jar of the green goo in each hand, tilting it around experimentally.

He tucked both canisters into his subspace casually, noting that there were still five other canisters. He'd watch the synth-En'd medic _very_ carefully... If all went well for the mech, then these would come in handy.

A tiny, spiky-helmed human child walked in and waved up at him warily. "Hey, Skyquake." The boy caught sight of the passed out medic and looked up at him with worried and suspicious eyes. "W-what happened to Ratchet?"

"He shot himself with the green stuff and passed out about half a klick afterwards..." The jet flicked a wing, glancing between the boy and the medic. "I didn't knock him out, if that's what you're thinking."

The boy clambered onto Ratchet's chest and peered into the medic's face, shoving his little red glasses up. "Ratchet? Wake up!"

Skyquake watched with his helm cocked slightly before reaching forward and prodding the medic with his foot. The red and white mech groaned, opening his turqoise optics slowly and sitting up after setting Raf on the floor.

"How is it that such small beings can be so loud?" Ratchet grumbled quietly.

The boy grinned sheepishly and shifted his laptop in his arms. "Are you hurt? Skyquake said you fell."

"I'm fine." The medic muttered, optics dimming as he ran an internal assessment and fed it into the medical device installed in his forearm. He sounded pleased as he continued, "I'm _more _than fine..."

Skyquake gazed on warily as the gruff mech actually smiled, and laughed, sounding more excited than the jet had thought possible. "Ah! Energy efficiency's up 30%... Motor functions optimal? Ha ha! Any word from the others?"

"What, am I your secretary now?" The jet shrugged his wings, continuing to monitor the medic. So far, he was very impressed. The synth-En was apparently super-fuel, heightening all functions with just a small dose.

Ratchet growled at him and headed over to the terminal right as the Prime commed in, _/Ratchet, lock on to Arcee's coordinates and prepare an emergency ground bridge./_

Skyquake followed the medic in to the main room, his wings tingling as he caught sight of the exit. He needed to fly again. These Autobots didn't understand how important it was that he fly regularly.

_/I'm locked on./ _Ratchet said after a little bit. _/Arcee, decelerate and prepare to return to base./_

_/Save it, Ratchet./ _The Autobot two-wheeler replied, her tone focused. _/I'm too close./_

_/Don't be a fool!/_ The medic shouted, slamming his fist into the terminal as the femme shut off her comm-link. "Ugh!" Several klicks later the terminal binged and popped a warning that Skyquake didn't care about enough to read. "She's hurt."

A green portal swirled to life in the ground bridge ring and Ratchet was already running towards it, shouting, "Skyquake, man the ground bridge!"

And then he was left alone with the human boy. The base suddenly grew very, very still, so silent that the nearly inaudible whir of his systems seemed deafening. It was rather uncharacteristic of the medic to leave an ex-Decepticon frontliner alone in their base with a defenseless human. Not to mention that the terminal was left completely open, with all of the Autobots' secrets in his servos.

Though really, he had no reason to leave the Autobot base - nowhere to go if he did - nor did he have any desire to harm the human sparkling. However, manning the ground bridge would prove troublesome, as he was unfamiliar with the human/Cybertronian hybrid of technology.

"Boy..." Skyquake rumbled slowly, reluctant to request a fleshling's help.

The spiky-haired human scrambled back into his line of sight, his posture suggesting a great amount of apprehension. "Y-yeah?"

To help alleviate the boy's fear, Skyquake crouched down, pressing his armor tight against his frame to make himself appear smaller. "Do you know how to operate the ground bridge controls?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Should the Autobots require a ground bridge, may I count on you to assist them?" He asked gently, keeping his posture unimposing.

"Y-yeah..." The boy repeated again, clutching his laptop like a life-line.

Skyquake sighed deeply, the action ruffling Raf's hair and clothes. Human children always had feared him. He'd lived on this planet for seven vorns, waking for a half-orn every quartex. In that time, a mech would grow bored. He would explore the continent on which he was stationed, occasionally running into a human settlement.

The humans all feared him, though he never gave them a reason to. He only ever observed, every now and then having to rescue some fool trying to fly across the canyons on wings of twigs and rags.

He truly was trying to adopt the Autobot ways. For Terabyte. But all he had to go by was his honor. Honor didn't tell him how to be nice to people, or trust people without reason. Nor did honor tell him how to make a terrified organic creature who wasn't even a quarter of his height any less terrified.

"Rafael." Skyquake said quietly. "I may have been a Decepticon - I realize that you fear me, and with good reason - but I swear to you: you will come to no harm by my hand."

"S-sorry..." Raf laughed nervously, "I'm not really scared of _you_... you're just really, _really _scary looking..."

At this, he chuckled, his ruby optics gentle. "That _was_ the point."

Soon enough, the call came in for a ground bridge, and the boy flipped it on with ease - as he had said he could. Team Prime came in loud and cheerful, but Skyquake noticed instantly that Terabyte was not with them. Cliffjumper and the scout were also absent.

Optimus Prime pulled up in his alt-mode, leaving his trailer - packed full of Energon - to the side of the main chamber. Everyone seemed to flock around Ratchet in a flurry of excitement, telling wild tales of the medic's sudden super-strength.

Ignoring the others for the moment, Skyquake approached the Prime, his optics hard, though his tone remained vaguely respectful, "Where is the remainder of your party, Prime?"

"They will return in due time. Terabyte wished to investigate a set of coordinates."

He nodded in acknowledgement and joined the small crowd around Ratchet, who was tossing jugs of synth-En to each mech. Ratchet grinned, "Just a little something I call synth-En."

Skyquake noticed a disapproving look come across the Prime's face as the mech's engine hummed with displeasure. Arcee leaned casually on one pede, hand on her hip. "From the data Bulkhead transcribed? I thought the formula was-"

"Incomplete?" The medic finished the femme's sentence with a smug chuckle, "Not anymore."

Beside the olive jet, Bulkhead asked, "So Ratch' makes a better tough guy than I do a smart guy?"

The Prime spoke sternly, "Ratchet, I question the wisdom of using yourself as a test subject."

The two-wheeler femme huffed in disbelief, gesturing with her hands to emphasize her point. "Optimus, you didn't see Ratchet out there. He was in overdrive... We should all try this stuff!"

Skyquake snorted, flicking his wing - which was still stiff from where Airachnid had shoved her claws between his wing-cons last battle. "Or give the Hatchet more so we can take a vacation."

"Skyquake, I would prefer that you treat your superiors with due respect." The regal Autobot leader reprimanded gently, "Ratchet, I agree that the initial results are promising, however, I recommend that further testing be confined to machines, not fellow Autobots." Putting a hand on the medic's shoulder, Optimus' lip-plates lifted into a tiny smile. "Outnumbered though we may be, old friend, we need a warrior in the laboratory more than we need another on the field."

**Present Time**

Calling in a ground bridge, Terabyte watched on with blank processors as the green and blue and purple portal swirled in front of them. She waved a hand at Bumblebee to escort the white jet through, then gestured for Cliffjumper to follow, feeling her frame sway precariously.

_Warning: Fuel levels at 2%. Commencing stasis lock in 10..._

The red mech watched her with concerned optics, ignoring her order for him to return to base. She wobbled again, opening her mouth to speak weakly, her vocalizer catching on the words, "Cliffjumper, pr-pr-proceed to baaase."

_9..._

_8..._

"Terabyte, what's wrong? Your balancing systems seem skewed." Cliffjumper said quietly, touching her elbow gently.

_7..._

"Why shhhhould you care? I'm just a tr-r-r-traitor anyway..." She chuckled at the irony of the situation. He tears her hope to shreds, stomps all over it, then seems genuinely concerned for her well-being afterwards. She swayed again, this time falling to her black, diamond-shaped knee-plates with a loud clang.

_6..._

_5..._

Cliffjumper bent down and scooped her up into his arms gently, his sky blue optics filled with worry and... regret? So soon? The femme snorted derisively. Doubtful.

_4..._

Her optics offlined as the mech ran through the ground-bridge and straight to the med-bay, shouting for Ratchet to get his act together and figure out what was wrong with her. The mech couldn't even tell the signs of a basic fuel-deprivation shut-down? No wonder the Decepticons were winning.

_3..._

_2..._

Right before her whole system shut down completely, Terabyte felt a sharp prick in her arm, noting Skyquake's yelling in the background.

_1... Commencing stasis lock..._

She was so tired too... A nice, long nap would be amazing...

"What did you do to her?!" Skyquake roared at him, the huge jet towering over him, glowering down at him with burning ruby optics.

He went stiff momentarily as the ex-Con grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground with ease, smashing his helm against the wall and pinning him there. Cliffjumper grinned in spite of himself, "Well, is it just me or does this happen a lot? You seem to have an affinity for the dramatic slamming-your-enemies-into-walls thing."

The jet snarled angrily and threw him across the room into another wall, where his helm cracked loudly against the concrete. He wheezed quietly as the air was knocked completely from his vents, forcing his systems to reboot. His back erupted in pain, followed by some errors telling him about a couple ruptured struts.

Maybe taunting the guy slightly bigger than the Prime and significantly more weaponed... Not the smartest of plans, in hindsight. Now Optimus was yelling at Skyquake to stand down, and the jet was arguing and yelling back. He could hear the mech's stressed systems from here.

Cliffjumper got back to his pedes shakily, ignoring the stream of new errors that the motion resulted in, gasping as the relatively bearable pain tripled in potency. He sauntered up to the Prime and Skyquake, not listening to their words as their voices continued to rise. Huh, Prime normally didn't lose his cool like this. He swiped his hand across his fore-helm, noting the life-En that now drenched his hand.

He didn't particularly care that he'd probably end up passing out soon. He probably deserved it for what he'd said to Terabyte. They all knew that she was blaming herself far too harshly already; it was obvious that she felt absolutely wretched about it, and likely never would forgive herself. He knew that.

But that hadn't stopped him.

She'd looked so devastated. When she'd spoken next... He'd never heard a voice more broken, more crushed. Not in all his vorns of working interrogation and prisoner control. He'd worked so hard since she got here to befriend her and make her feel welcome and cared about. And in less than a klick, he'd broken her.

Now he could only hope he could fix it.

He grinned at the two yelling mechs, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Mechs, mechs... Let's all just calm down and look at this objectively."

"Cliffjumper, you are leaking out and you have several broken struts. This is not a light matter: I will not allow such abusive behavior to continue among my own team." Optimus replied, though his tone had returned to the usual, calm, stern reprimand. "I cannot condone Skyquake putting my mechs in sickbay every time something unpleasant happens to Terabyte."

Across from the Prime, Skyquake growled, "I wouldn't have to put your mechs in sickbay if they didn't keep losing her, or bringing her back leaking or unconscious!"

"Terabyte is more than capable of taking care of herself, and you can't expect us to focus all our attention on her when we have more important things to deal with on the battlefield!" Cliffjumper shouted back indignantly, his plan of calming them down forgotten.

Optimus, still thinking about his leaking soldier, said, "Skyquake, this is a war! A war that Terabyte _chose_ to fight in! As a high-ranking commander in the Decepticon army, you of all mechs should know that there are injuries and casualties in war. We all put each other's lives in high regard, but we cannot set aside all of our resources to make sure that one femme does not get harmed."

"She wouldn't even be in this war if it weren't for you and your Autobots!" Skyquake roared. Cliffjumper swayed on his pedes, taking a wary step backwards as the green jet slammed an accusing servo into the Prime's chest. "You strut about all high and mighty, looking down at us moral inferiors while you send squadrons to massacre Decepticons and neutrals alike! Have you forgotten the deeds of the Primes that came before you?"

The red warrior snarled at this, at the accusations the jet was making. "Autobots weren't responsible for the fall of Protihex and you know it! How dare you-"

"_Enough!_"

The three arguing mechs instantly went silent, turning to stare at the medic, whose roar still echoed through the base. Optimus turned his gaze to the floor, looking ashamed of himself, while Skyquake simply crossed his arms and fumed. Cliffjumper bit his glossa and nearly lost his balance again, putting his arms out to his sides to steady himself.

"Before you all decide to kill each other over the moral/ethical stands you have in regards to protecting your team-mates, did any of you bother to listen to my report on what _actually_ happened?" Ratchet scolded, causing each of them to wilt at the rebuke, "_No_. If you had, you wouldn't be about to scrap each other, because you would know that there is no one to blame for Terabyte's collapse but _herself_."

"What do you mean?" Skyquake demanded, his optics narrowing as he glared mutinously at the medic.

Ratchet chuckled, leaning up against the wall, crossing his ankles casually, "What I mean, is she went into stasis from fuel deprivation, because _someone_," He paused to glare pointedly at the Prime, "Failed to tell her that the base-wide order for everyone to take half rations to stretch our diminished resources, did _not_ apply to her since she was already taking half rations. So she's been running at a quarter tank for two orns."

Cliffjumper's optics widened slightly as realization hit him. She'd only been taking a quarter ration, and she hadn't refuelled before their mission. Which meant that by the time she pulled her cannon on him, she would have only been at about ten percent. And everyone knows that weapons systems are among the first things to go offline when one's frame goes into power-saving mode.

_Trust me on this. Please... Just, trust me._

Not only had he completely and totally shattered the little femme, he'd done it when she had no intentions whatsoever of betraying them. By pulling his guns on the sleeper - who was now with Bee in the brig - he had been compromising their mission to find the sleeper and attempt to win him over. Terabyte was only threatening him - with a mini-cannon that she couldn't even fire - to get him to stand down, because he wouldn't have otherwise and she needed to prove to the sleeper that they truly did mean him no harm.

He grinned and pulled on a cheery tone, "So, you juiced 'er up and she'll be good to go in jiffy! Right, Doc?"

Rather than scolding him, like he'd expected, Ratchet just stretched his neck in a bored manner, "Sounds about right, kid."

The red mech's smile stretched a little wider. He could get used to this version of the doc-bot. Really, why hadn't they invented synth-En earlier? It was a huge mood improver.

**Five Days Later**

Terabyte took in a deep, shuddery draft of air and sat up slowly, crossing her pedes on the berth and looking around her with some confusion. She'd expected she'd be in the medical bay with Ratchet standing over her, checking her vitals and grumbling about her taking up his med-bay. Instead, she awoke to find herself in her quarters, with Arcee on the bed across from her, reading on a datapad as usual.

She yawned and stretched in a very human-like action, attesting to the time she spent with the humans. Her armor flared out to its usual defensive position, and her finials spun and flicked around, habitually scanning her surroundings.

"Good morning." Arcee commented, not looking up from her datapad. "Feeling better?"

_Emergency stasis lock released. Medical aid obtained. Fuel tanks at 100%._

Terabyte's engine choked, recovered, and then whined, her expression growing increasingly concerned, "I-I, my- not s-"

Now the other femme put her datapad down and walked over to her, sitting down on the berth beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder wheel-well, "What's up?"

"My tanks are at 100% capacity." She said worriedly, Cliffjumper's words echoing angrily in her mind. _Sure, I trust you. I trust you to keep betraying us, no matter how many times I put my spark on the line for you; you'll just keep blowing your chances. _"I'm supposed to be at a quarter rations..."

Arcee looked downright furious, making her press her armor down to her frame and cringe away, not entirely voluntarily. The femme noticed and rubbed her upper back soothingly, making Terabyte relax a tiny bit, "Your full ration is about half of a normal ration already, and you're taking half of that, and you expected us to require you to take half of even that?"

She didn't say anything for a little bit, then spoke quietly, "Will I be punished?"

"For what?"

"Not following the conditions of my parole, pulling a gun on a fellow officer over whom I was given charge, performing potentially traitorous actions, not conforming to protocol regarding first contact with ancient technology and/or persons, failing to complete the assigned mission, failing to follow orders regarding use of the English language, failing to remain conscious while in a leadership position on field-"

"Okay, okay, stop." Arcee cut her off, smiling, "Half of those offenses aren't even worth a reprimand, half weren't even your fault and you can't be held accountable, and half will need discussed and were probably done with good, explainable intentions. No, you're not going to be punished."

Terabyte shuddered, relieved, but still dubious. _I trust you to keep betraying us, no matter how many times I put my spark on the line for you._ "That's not possible. You cannot have three halves."

"That's beside the point." Arcee replied, a tinge impatient.

"A-are you sure? I-I... I threatened to shoot Cliff... And he-" She paused for a minute to find a good way to word this, without getting the mech in trouble, "He firmly objected..."

"What did he say to you?" The older pink and blue femme demanded, moving so she could look into Terabyte's scarlet optics.

"Nothing worth worrying over." She averted her gaze, tilting her helm away from the other femme's intent optics. "Could we go to the training room?"

The Autobot second in command watched her with suspicion for a little bit, then nodded. Given time, the femme would tell her when she felt like it. Arcee got up and opened the unlocked door to her quarters, tilting her helm to let Terabyte know she could come. She sighed gently as the femme passed, noting that her armor was flared again.

She wasn't getting soft with the femme. She just thought that she really did want to change, and that desire deserved a second chance. Or three, or four. As for threatening to shoot Cliff... she'd done the same often enough, and the mech probably deserved it. Arcee followed beside Terabyte in a companionable silence, each lost in their thoughts.

She was just a kid; she needed to be shown that she was loved and welcome here.

Normally the pink and blue femme would say that she felt an attachment to the ex-Con not only because of their similarities, but because she understood what the little femme was going through. Except the truth of the matter was that she didn't understand what the femme was going through. None of them did, really.

"Terabyte-"

Arcee had hardly opened her mouth, when Skyquake came crashing through the arena wall to slam down against the other side of the hall in a pile of dust and rubble right in front of the two femmes.

Soon Bumblebee and Cliffjumper had both come over to investigate the source of the crash, just in time to watch Bulkhead stumble backwards through the hole in the wall to fall on his rear beside Skyquake with a thud.

As Ratchet followed the two floored mechs with a smug expression on his face, the group gathered around gaped at him in disbelief. He laughed, dusting off his hands, "Hoo-ah!"

She glanced between Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, and Ratchet, making optic contact with Terabyte for a brief moment. "What was that?"

Skyquake just groaned, getting up and dusting off before extending a hand to Bulkhead, who just glared at him and got up on his own.

"You have competition, Bulk." Arcee commented with a smirk.

"I'm a bit stronger than I used to be." Ratchet said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Also a bit faster." Throwing a couple mock boxing punches in Cliff and Bee's direction, the medic laughed, "Think you can take me, muscle cars?"

Both mechs shook their helms rapidly, Bumblebee letting out an instant whirl of negative bleeps. Ratchet just laughed again and set off towards the wash-racks, winking at the femmes as he passed, "How's it hummin', ladies?"

Arcee blinked a couple times, watching the medic's quickly retreating back, turning just in time to see the perfect expression of horrified disgust on what little of Terabyte's face that was visible. She also noted the protective way Skyquake had positioned himself in front of the little femme.

"Did... Did he just...?" Terabyte trailed off, one optic ridge raised slightly.

"Stronger, faster..." Bulkhead muttered, leaving his sentence hanging. Cliffjumper grinned widely, cocking an optic ridge, "Studlier."

She smiled up at Skyquake behind her midnight navy mask as the others all began to disperse, just leaving the rubble piled up where the medic had thrown Skyquake through the wall. He looked down at her with mildly concerned optics. "Good morning... How you feeling?"

Terabyte shrugged noncomittally, fiddling with the decorations on her mini-cannon. _You just keep blowing your chances_. She looked away so Skyquake wouldn't see the pain in her optics. "I'm fine."

"Tera..." As if Skyquake would be fooled. He reached out and grabbed her chin gently in between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her helm up so she was looking up at him. "I didn't mean physically."

The little femme really did want to tell him. Normally she wouldn't even hesitate to share her troubled thoughts with the mech; he always listened so well. But if she did tell him, he'd go hurt Cliffjumper, and then he'd get in trouble with the Prime, and she didn't want either of those things to happen.

She sighed, smiling a despondent little smile. "Really, Sky, I'm fine. I just ran a bit low on fuel. If anything's wrong, I'll let you know, okay? Promise."

Cradling her helm in his hand for a moment, the huge jet nodded slowly, looking a little hurt that she didn't tell him what was wrong. His wings flicked downwards slightly, "You don't trust me not to get mad."

"Sky..." Terabyte leaned into him, her arms still wrapped around her middle, feeling the steady thrum of her friend's strong spark, the sound soothing her. She closed her optics, her voice quiet, "I trust you with my life..."

His engine rumbled dissatisfactorily, "But?"

"I..." She frowned slightly, taking a moment to just relish his presence. To hear the gentle hum of his spark, each pulse reassuring her that he really was alive.

Though the memories Soundwave had implanted in her mind never happened, she could still feel the anguish of knowing Skyquake was gone forever. It was a feeling she would never forget. A feeling she hoped she'd never, ever have to feel again. The pained void that it left in her still hung in her memory, haunting her nightmares.

Seeming to sense the change in her thoughts, Terabyte felt Skyquake's arms wrap around her. He didn't press for any more answers, but she finally finished anyway, "I just don't want you to hurt him."

Skyquake's engine hummed, "The red hotshot that's over there watching us?"

She pulled away to look in the direction he'd indicated, grabbing hold of Skyquake's hand as she did so. Sure enough, Cliffjumper was leaned up against the wall on the other side of the hole, next to Arcee. His ankles were crossed and he had an odd expression on his face.

Terabyte's engine hitched slightly and she looked away before she could meet his optics, squeezing Skyquake's hand, her armor falling limp. Her finials twitched down to a depressed angle, hearing Cliffjumper's snarling voice ring in her helm, _Sure, I trust you. I trust you to keep betraying us..._

"... Yeah." She squeaked out quietly.

Cliffjumper, for his part, just shook his helm gently, as if waking himself up, "What's that?"

_Trust me on this. Please... Just, trust me. _The little femme stared at her pedes, "Nothing, sir. I trust you are fully recovered from the patrol?"

He grinned at the glowering mech beside her, his voice cocky and teasing, "Oh, yes, _ma'am_. I'm feeling a hundred percent ship-shape and ready to roll! You?"

"I function at a satisfactorily level," She practically whispered. "With your permission, Skyquake and I will be in the training arena if we are required."

The pink and blue femme behind him spoke up casually, "Mind if we join you?"

Straightening and taking a deep vent, Terabyte flared her armor back to its usual, slightly-strained position, forcing herself to regain her composure. Releasing Skyquake's hand, she rolled her helm slowly, listening to her neck struts pop into alignment. She didn't need the Autobots to trust her, or like her. She just needed them to let her be, let her try to atone for all that she'd done for the wrong side.

"_Yes_." Skyquake spat, his EM field pulsing angrily against her own, tightly monitored field.

"I understand that as paroled defectors, it is your duty to monitor our activities." She consented formally, flaring her field just enough to tell him to back down, "With this understanding, you have our assent."

She and Skyquake stepped over the rubble into the arena, heading straight for a quiet, somewhat-private corner of the arena. Respecting their space, their unofficial guards moved to the opposite side of the room and began their warm-up regime.

Choosing to ignore them, Terabyte turned her back to them and lowered her battle mask. Taking in a deep vent, she started through the first form Skyquake had ever taught her, moving through it without a single error, her motions defined by grace. Smiling at Skyquake, who was mirroring her, they went through several more in perfect, practiced sync.

Grinning slyly, Skyquake started going through motions that were unfamiliar to her, but she just grinned right back, mirroring his perfectly and nearly intuitively. They continued going through various lunges and motions, each one taking turns leading, flawlessly moving in sync with each other, never missing or hesitating.

By their grace, one never would have guessed that seven vorns had passed between training sessions.

Gradually they sped up so that they were twisting and spinning, twirling all around each other in a blurred dance of green and navy, accented with red. Never once did they actually touch as they continued to spin around each other in a deadly dance of flashing blades, thrown punches, and flying kicks.

Time seemed to stop as they both mirrored the other intuitively, all thoughts of their audience lost to them.

Finally Terabyte spun around Skyquake, ducking under his wings in a daring attempt to knock the mech forward on his own weight. He stuck out his pede just at the right moment and tripped her, spinning around on his heel to catch her arms, pulling them behind her and locking a massive arm around her neck in a grand finale to their graceful teamwork.

"You've slowed down." He commented with a smirk, his deep, rumbling voice raining down on her as her vents heaved, her cooling fans running at full speed. "Been the Wave's techie for too long?"

She laughed breathily, "Says the guy who just woke up from a seven-vorn nap... Keeping up with you is copper cookies compared to last time we sparred. At least _my_ moves are still fresh."

"Ohhh, you didn't..." Skyquake gasped in mock horror, releasing his hold and one of her hands, twirling her around like a formal dance, letting her twirl out before letting her go.

He looked like he was about to continue until he saw her mask snap back up. She straightened and nodded respectfully to the two Autobots who had stopped their own training to watch.

Arcee looked at them with her mouth slightly parted, an awed expression on her face, "How did you do that?"

Skyquake cocked an optic ridge and glanced over at the little navy and black femme. "What, the little twirl I just did?"

At their unimpressed expressions, Terabyte giggled quietly, "Sure Sky, they're gaping at the dinky little ballerina twirl you spun me through."

Cliffjumper also snickered, then posed his question, speaking really slowly and loudly with an intent expression, acting like the jet was mentally deficient, making dramatized actions to go along with his words, "No... we are... talk-ing... a-bout... the way... you... were... train-ing... in per-fect... sync... with each-o-ther."

She glared at the red mech, smirking as the older femme elbowed him roughly, glowering at him.

The ex-Con femme looked over at Skyquake for help, "Um... It just happens... Practice?"

"There's way more to it than that." Arcee objected, putting a hand on her hip. "You... flow. It's effortless, fluid, almost like you know what the other's thinking."

"We might as well." The green jet said bluntly, crossing his arms, his wings flicking agitatedly.

The two other Autobots glanced at each other with confused expressions. Terabyte shook her helm, smiling widely behind her midnight navy mask. Pulling back into a ready stance, the little femme waved her hand, gesturing for Cliffjumper to come at her, "We've been training together for quite a while... Predicting each other's next move hardly even takes a nano's thought. Honestly, I haven't trained with anyone besides Sky and battle drones in a long time. Are you up for a round?"

She tilted her helm to the side, cocking an optic ridge in challenge, motioning again. The red mech fell into stance with his lips peeled back in an anticipatory grin, "The real question is are _you_?"

Terabyte licked her fangs slowly, smirking behind her mask, not even considering losing to be an option. Flicking her servos at the two observing, making them back off, she braced herself for a quick victory, "I suppose we will find out, won't we?"

With that, the little femme leapt up towards the taller mech, feinting a blow towards his helm, falling short then rolling between his pedes at the last moment as he blocked clumsily. Rather than rising from the roll, she flipped on her back and shoved her pedes upwards, kicking him right in the small of his back.

As Cliffjumper fell forward hard on his hands and knees, she sprung up to her pedes to put one black foot on the mech's back in triumph, her frame not even the slightest bit heated. She laughed, forgetting for a moment the last conversation she'd had with the mech, "Maybe a rematch on that one... I do believe you were going easy on me?"

He groaned, accepting her offered hand up once she'd released him. Holding his back like she'd hurt him far more than she'd intended, he smirked wryly, "Yeah... the doc's not gonna be happy if I get landed in med-bay again, less than a week after 'severe spinal trauma'..." Waving a hand at his silver, malformed pede, Cliffjumper grinned, falling back to a ready stance, "Really, you'd think I'd've got it through my thick helm that you're tougher than you look. Rematch, then?"

At his words though, all the playful cheer she'd worked up seemed to drain right out of her, making her face and armor fall slack. _The same femme who blew my leg off last time she pointed a gun at me. _Her shoulder bolts dropped in shame and she lowered her helm.

"Severe spinal trauma?" She asked weakly, chewing on her lip behind her mask, spinning a shoulder wheel anxiously in its socket.

A light rustle of armor let her know the mech shrugged nonchalantly, as though it were nothing, "Oh, yeah, you were taking a lil' vacation in la-la land. No big, just got in a bit of a tustle with ole big and scowly over there." Cliffjumper paused, probably looking over at the green jet, who could be heard sparring with Arcee, making the red warrior laugh, "Speak of the jet, big and scowly seems to be getting his aft handed to him by my partner."

Her finials twitched slightly, being the only indication that she was still listening to the mech. Her tanks churned inside her and she looked up at Cliffjumper with carefully blank red optics, returning her armor to its normal flare. _Sure, I trust you._ She heard his bitter voice growl in her helm, stabbing her through to the spark.

"Actually, I am feeling quite exhausted... Our rematch will have to be post-poned, sir. Permission to be escorted back to my quarters?" Terabyte stated, her voice sounding empty and mechanical even to her.

Cliffjumper however, didn't seem to notice. He beamed at her, his optics twinkling, "Oh, I see how you are: wimping out on a fair rematch. Think I'll beat you if I'm trying?" Not waiting for her to reply, he just chuckled and hollered over at Arcee, "Cee! Mind finishing pounding Jetbrain after taking TB to her berth?"

The older femme smirked, landing lightly on her pedes after punching Skyquake in the gut one last time, resting a hand on her hip, "Sure. What makes you unable to?"

He shrugged again, teasing, "Meh, you know, this and that... I'm having a mid-life crisis."

Once the two femmes had left the room, Cliffjumper sighed deeply, his back aching from where Terabyte had unknowingly agitated his still-recovering injuries. The very thought of the little femme tied his internals in a knot of guilt. His sharp words were very plainly still plaguing the femme, who'd worked untiringly to gain their trust and approval, only to be crushed in a single sentence from his own mouth.

The way she seemed to break all over again every time she caught his optic sickened him. And he deserved every bit of the guilt he felt. But at the same time, he didn't know how to remedy the wounds he'd created. He couldn't very well just walk up to her, like, _I'm so sorry I tore your every hope of redemption into a million pieces and then saw fit to rub it in your face afterwards. We can still be friends like nothing happened, right?_

He let out a derisive snort, earning him an odd look from Skyquake. The odd look almost immediately contorted into a glare. The non-existent conversation continued to play on in his helm, _Oh, and by the way, Short Stuff, could ya tell your boyfriend to stop trying to murder me at the slightest provocation? Kinda inconsiderate of him._

"I require refuelling." Skyquake declared, his scowl deepening as he very reluctantly had to ask for the red warrior's help. Apparently he decided to simply demand, "You will come with me."

Cliffjumper cocked an optic ridge, silencing the internal trial in his helm. He'd let her get herself back together again, then he would apologize and it would all sort itself out without his interference to make matters worse. Bowing dramatically, he gestured for the jet to lead the way to the mess room, "Your wish is my command, Lord Jetbrain, your great Malevolence."

The mech just scowled, leading the way. His wings were pulled up and back in what Cliffjumper was beginning to recognize as an expression of acute annoyance.

When they got to the mess hall, it was empty. The red mech flung himself down on one of the steel benches leaning his elbows up on the table. "Serve me up, lunch-mech. I'll have the best we've got... which is probably stale medical grade Energon..."

He hadn't even finished speaking when the green jet sat down across the table from him, empty-handed. Cliffjumper opened his mouth to object to the lack of Energon, when the mech reached into subspace and pulled two glowing green canisters of the experimental synthetic Energon, thumping them down on the table and sliding one over to him.

"Prime said-" He started suspiciously.

"You asked for the best we have." Skyquake interrupted with a flick of an optic ridge, opening his own can of synth-En, making it hiss as the pressure released. "Prime didn't see the medic throw two of the biggest war-mechs on his team through a wall without his fans even kicking on."

Cliffjumper shrugged, inclining his helm in acknowledgement of that fact, popping the lid off his canister also. "We've got another mission scheduled for a groon from now..."

"And I'm in the mood to level the playing field." Skyquake's lips pulled up in a sneer as he raised the synth-En in an unspoken toast, downing the canister in a single gulp.

He looked down at his own portion of synth-En, weighing his options. It couldn't hurt anything, after all, the doc-bot was fine. Cliffjumper drank the last of his synth-En, swishing it around in his mouth. Had a weird, bitter, burning taste, reminding him vaguely of singed life-En mixed with rust.

"Well, the Doc sure isn't much of a culinary success..." The red mech muttered as he collapsed to join Skyquake in unconsciousness.

He gasped lightly, his optics widening at the massive surge that went through him when the synth-En hit his tanks, forcing a laugh from his vocalizer, feeling his energy levels spike. Letting out another chuckle, Skyquake leapt to his pedes, sending the bench he was on toppling over to slide to the other side of the room.

"Ho... mech!" The red mech across from him just barely kept his voice under a shout as he too jerked back into the land of the processing, "Man, that stuff works!"

Skyquake frowned slightly at the smaller mech, whose sky blue optics had turned a deep emerald, then grinned, flicking a wing at his concern. Apparently they'd been out cold for a while, because according to his chronometer, the Prime would want them to report for the mission in a breem or two.

"Come on, Little Mech... It's time the Decepticons learn their place in this war..."

Cliffjumper looked up at him with a wicked grin, "At _our_ mercies."

* * *

**AN. Okay, so that was a really cruel cliffie, I know, but it was so much fun to write... Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to hearing from my beloved readers!**

**Also, the Terabyte/Skyquake ship is now official, so it needs a name! Yay, ship-naming! Unfortunately, I've drawn a blank. So, if my beloved readers would impart their highly-appreciated opinions, I would be very grateful!**

**(See what I did there? ... Flattery? No, of course not... That would be incredibly unprofessional of me... Lol, but really, I would love to hear your input!)**


	42. Higher

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 42**

**Higher**

* * *

**AN. So, this chapter. No spoilers, sweet readers, but I am hoping that the last scene will prompt ship names for TB/Sky! So be thinking about that as you read!**

* * *

_Identify, hoist, shove, drag, dump, and record. Return, repeat. The spy felt sick to her tanks as they continued to clean up after the Autobot siege on HQ. Nearly a quartex had passed since they attacked, and yet the aftermath seemed unaffected by the long orns of labor. Soundwave had ordered her to help with the manual labor, as he had ordered the whole department. Now the stoic department head was running the whole department on his own._

_Which left her - banned permanently from active field duty - hefting corpses and rubble from the city. Currently she was working in Victory Square. Victory Square: demolished, littered with grayed frames, and reeking of death and stale life-En. _

_She crouched down in front of a huge, dead tank; his young, handsome faceplate charred and permanently stilled. This mech was on her team, on that dreadful mission half a vorn ago when Darkshine died. He was a shy one; she remembered snorting at the irony of this poor mech's existence. Quicksand: the shy tank. _

_Clenching her jaw, the spy catalogued the mech's termination, including images and a rough external medical assessment. _

_"Strika!" The little Prussian blue two-wheeler called, grabbing the dead mech's hand and attempting to drag the tank to the smelting pit to recycle his parts. Resources were at an all time low, planet-wide. "Fighter-class tank, heavy alloy armor: this one's a bit past my weight-lifting record."_

_The huge femme didn't even grunt in response, leaving the Protihexian spy to yank on the corpse's inert frame on her own. Her vents heaved, and she looked around the square, not seeing Strika anywhere. Seeing the silhouette of a decent-sized mech coming her way, she stood up and hollered for the mech to come over and help her with moving this mech._

_When the bot came into view, her optics narrowed. He growled at her, but grabbed the frame by the shoulders, leaving her to lift the corpse's pedes. The monotone mech snarled, "On three. One... two... three."_

_She grunted as they pulled up on the tank, lifting it just enough to comfortably carry over to the growing mound of corpses by the smelting pits. The black and white ex-Enforcer purposefully moved faster than she could easily keep up with, leaving her to stumble along as best she could. Just a few klicks before they reached the mound, the little femme tripped over a disembodied limb, making her drop the grayed frame with a yelp as she fell hard on her hands and knees. _

_Hissing as sharp, shattered glass sliced through the thin preliminary armor on her hands, she vented angrily. Thankfully the thick, black, diamond-shaped knee-guards protected her golden joints from the impact._

_"Careful, kid." Barricade sneered mockingly, "Wouldn't want to get your pretty little self __**damaged**__ now would we?"_

_She pushed herself lightly to her pedes, straightening and dusting off her hands with her helm held high, flicking a finial back, "Likewise." _

_They hefted the tank again, and flung it onto the heap with a reverberating clang. She winced as a twisted piece of the frame's armor sliced into her forearm, deep enough to draw life-En. Shrugging, she simply headed back towards Victory Square, adding it to the growing list of repairs she would have to deal with between shifts. _

_Unfortunately, the ex-Enforcer seemed to get it in his helm to help her out. She cut off an annoyed rumble of her engine, crouching down in front of the next casualty, this one a small-ish Autobot mech. Scanning her database, the spy scowled. Another unknown. Filing it into the list, she picked the mech up with a light groan, hoisting the lifeless husk onto her shoulder and wobbling slightly as she accommodated for the added weight._

_"Need some help with this one too, femme-ling?" Barricade asked, his tone scornful. "You're better off as Soundwave's little maid."_

_Her armor flared out minutely farther as she shifted the Autobot carcass, biting out, "You would do well to respect your superiors, __**Captain**__."_

_The mech laughed, scooping the frame off her shoulders, leering at her over his shoulder as he walked off back to the pits. "You just keep telling yourself you deserve that pretty title your high-up mech-friend weaseled up for you. After all, we've all got dreams, eh?"_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**Skyquake's lips pulled up in a sneer as he raised the synth-En in an unspoken toast, downing the canister in a single gulp.**

**"Come on, Little Mech... It's time the Decepticons learned their place in this war..."**

**Cliffjumper looked up at him with a wicked grin, "At **_**our**_** mercies."**

"-unlikely to require medical expertise, Ratchet." Optimus pointed out firmly, just as Skyquake and Cliffjumper sauntered in, each looking significantly more self-confident than normal.

Which, considering it was _Cliffjumper_ that he was talking about... Bumblebee whirred softly. The last thing that mech needed was a confidence boost. He narrowed his bright blue optics, noticing that both the red warrior and the green jet's optics had turned the same deep emerald as Ratchet's had after he took the synth-En.

He raised a servo, whistling in the hopes of attracting someone's attention to point this out, but Ratchet spoke right over the top of him, "But you never know if it may require additional _firepower_. Bumblebee can handle ground bridge duty."

At this, the yellow scout looked offended, letting out a long string of disgruntled, meaningless beeps and whirls before objecting, **"Hey! Ground bridge duty's a rookie's assignment!"**

The smoldering glare he got from the old medic made him shrink a little, quickly amending, **"And... I actually think manning the ground bridge is an amazing privilege that I'd be glad to take care of while you're out!"**

Skyquake stepped out onto the dry, dusty plateau they'd just bridged to, surveying the empty landscape for the Decepticon threat he'd come to decimate. He growled at the lack of mechs he was allowed to tear apart.

Shrugging lightly, the jet transformed and shot off into the sky with an audio-shattering scream of engines, spiraling through the air with a thrill of pleasure. Finally he could shake the nagging wing-bind that had plagued him for the near-quartex he'd been trapped in the Autobot foxhole they called a base.

Too bad Terabyte hadn't come. She'd've loved to go for a flight.

He would have loved to take her for a flight.

Just to be with a friendly presence again after seven vorns of solitude. Granted, seven vorns was not an intolerably long period of time by Cybertronian standards; yet the sheer alone-ness of it made it seem like an eternity to wait. It sounded horribly awful, but Skyquake was actually glad that Cybertron died.

If it hadn't, who knew how long he would have been stranded alone on this dreary mud ball.

Finally heeding the incessant string of commed orders to return to the group, the fighter-class jet made a nose-dive towards a point several meters behind the team, slicing through the clear skies like a blade. Mere feet from impact, Skyquake levelled out to zip past the walking Autobots, his underside just inches from the ground, spraying dust into their faceplates with a chuckle.

Unfortunately, he hadn't accounted for the red warrior to be fast enough to latch onto his wing as he passed, pulling him off balance as Cliffjumper was dragged through the dirt, refusing to let go. The green jet growled as his wingtip scraped against the plateau from the weight of the undesired passenger, who was too busy having half the desert crammed down his throat to enact whatever he'd been planning.

Shooting over the edge of the cliff, Skyquake gave a deep, rumbling laugh as his passenger roared in surprise as the ground beneath him suddenly gave way to open air. Only a few astroseconds passed before he realized that he was not only flying sideways, but also rapidly losing altitude, hurtling towards a large group of Decepticon drones led by Blitzwing.

Once Cliffjumper had managed to choke up a ventful of sand, the red mech let out a loud, yodeling whoop as he continued to drag them both ground-ward, straight towards the massive triple-changer, whose back was turned towards them.

"Let go of me!" Skyquake roared, shaking his wing in a futile attempt to dislodge the mech as the cliff-face continued to grow closer, "You're going to get us both killed!"

"I know!" Cliffjumper shouted back with an exhilarated laugh.

The green jet's engines screamed in protest to the stress he was putting on them, trying to level out, "Are you glitched?!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the red mech replied cheerily, "Probably!"

Right as he flew over Blitzwing, Cliffjumper let go of his wing, hollering war-cries and laughing like a madmech, leaving Skyquake hurtling towards a cliff-face that he had no way of maneuvering away from.

He transformed just in time to slam into his side against the stone wall, crashing down to land with a muted crunch as he landed on some horribly unobservant guard. The green jet chuckled, bending down to pat the moaning Vehicon on the helm, "Thanks old friend. You really took the fall for me."

Snapping the mech's neck with a light flick of his wrist, Skyquake rose and offlined the other six guards that had surrounded him with relative ease, then turned to see Cliffjumper perched on a knocked out Blitzwing, leaking synth-En from a wound in his side and lip.

The red mech leapt off of the triple-changer and landed right behind a miner, leaning forward with a blaster held beside the mech's helm, screaming, "_Boo_!"

When the poor miner shrieked femme-ishly and fainted, Cliffjumper glanced over at Skyquake and they both broke out in raucous laughter as the other miners ran in all directions.

By the time the others arrived, the miners - for that was all that they'd left functioning - were scattered, and the two mechs who'd very literally dropped in on the mining operation were doubled over with laughter, laughing so hard that pink drops of coolant had gathered in their optics.

"What is wrong with you two?" Arcee asked incredulously, watching them with an amused smirk tugging at her lips, Optimus and Bulkhead having left her with them to chase down Ratchet.

Short of breath, Skyquake just wheezed out a weak, "Boo!", before lapsing back into a fit of giggles. Arcee just shook her helm with a smile and followed the Prime to get Ratchet.

**Meanwhile: Autobot Base**

Bumblebee stared at the terminal for several breems, reading everything on the screen about a million times, memorizing every glyph, image, and hyphen on the terminal in boredom. He sighed, giving a depressed little buzz. Why did he have to take bridge duty on a _weekday_? Couldn't he have done it on Saturday, when the kids were all here to keep him company?

He scowled for a minute and paced the main chamber for a couple breems, then transformed and pulled donuts in the entry-way. Still no response from the Bots. The scout walked back over to the terminal and pulled up the security feeds.

Maybe the scientist fellow from the Golden Age would be interesting to watch. The white jet wasn't quite as big as Skyquake, probably a foot or two shorter... Battle jets weren't really _that_ big. They were only a tiny bit taller than Prime, kind of like Megatron. They were just bulkier, more decked out for war. The scout figured that if this mech had as much armor and weaponry as Skyquake, they would be the same size.

This mech was a civilian class jet; his armor was softer, more rounded at the edges and he didn't appear to have any weapons at all. Wherever this mech came from, he obviously wasn't a soldier. Even more puzzling was the way he seemed to trust everyone and everything he came in contact with.

Like he'd never seen a day of war.

The white jet just sat on his berth, scrutinizing the wilted potted plant - an evergreen sapling that had somehow gotten in the brig - as if it were the most intriguing thing he'd ever seen. After watching the scientist stare at the plant for a couple klicks, Bumblebee sighed, turning his gaze to the other empty security feeds. The femmes' door was open, and he couldn't see anyone inside, but at the same time, none of the other feeds revealed the defected femme.

Personal quarters were the only rooms without cameras, but they were all locked aside from the femmes'. Which meant that Terabyte was supposed to be in view. Unless she was still in her quarters. He shrugged boredly. Arcee probably just left the door open, or the systems were glitching from the Scraplets, or whatever.

He shuttered his optics and leaned his back up against the base of the terminal, falling into a light recharge.

He'd hardly been like that for half a klick when the terminal binged to inform him that the brig force field had been momentarily offlined, flipping back online a couple nanos afterwards. Bumblebee's brow furrowed and he got up with a lazy flick of his door wings.

Checking the security feeds again, the scout's optics widened with surprise when he found Terabyte inside the white jet's cell, sitting across the table from him. Her sensory finials were held rigidly at a formal angle, her armor flared as usual. It was weird that she never relaxed. She didn't even seem to notice it either.

The little midnight colored femme wasn't supposed to go anywhere without an escort. Not to mention he still had no clue how she got there without him seeing her on the feeds. And then there was also the issue of defector possibly scheming with the prisoner. Ratchet had audio surveillance installed... Bumblebee just wasn't sure how to access it.

Whirring worriedly, the scout ran towards the hall to go get her, then skidded to an abrupt halt as Optimus' voice called in from the terminal, "Bumblebee, bridge us back."

**About a half an hour ago: Desert**

"Melted? Now _there's_ a concept..." Ratchet said, transforming his hand into a plate-welder with a wild glint in his emerald optics, brandishing it threateningly, "I won't ask you a second time: Where is Megatron?"

The Vehicon miner whimpered, his armor pressed down in a display of terror as he vainly stretched his helm away from the heat of the welding flame that was melting into his face, no doubt causing an immeasurable amount of pain. The medic smirked at the Decepticon's cowardice.

"The Nemesis is hovering over a tiny town in the northern portion of the humans' 'California'! Coordinates are 40 degrees north by 122 degrees west! " The miner spewed out quickly, along with the coordinates for a stockpile of Energon free for the taking, his frame going limp with relief as the welder was taken off his now-mutilated face. His red double visors brightened in fear as Ratchet transformed the welder into a short sword. He howled, "That's all I know, I swear it on my spark! Really!"

The red and white medic grunted, raising his sword to stab the pathetic mech through, hesitating only because of the Prime's voice coming from behind him. He stood up and turned to glare at his leader, hearing the miner's ragged venting as he limped away as fast as he could manage, swaying and wobbling from the damage to his helm.

"Ratchet!" Optimus yelled, his heavy pede-falls growing louder as he approached, "What are you doing?"

"Getting results." He spat, watching the miner run.

"And breaking protocol." The Prime pointed out, his tone cold as he saw what his old friend had done. "That was a Decepticon miner: servant class, not warrior class."

Ratchet fumed, whirling around to glare up at Optimus, his sneering tone visibly cutting through his friend and leader, "Oh, and let me guess; I'm just the _medic_."

"Autobots do not inflict harm until all other options are exhausted." The scarlet and blue mech countered his clenched jaw and stiff voice revealing the restrained anger the Prime was fighting, "That is what separates us from the Decepticons."

"Is it really time for another _lecture,_ Optimus?" He scoffed. "You didn't just happen to discover Megatron's coordinates, _did you_?" Not waiting for an answer, Ratchet ranted on, "Well, I _did_! And do you happen to know where there's a stockpile of raw Energon ripe for the taking? I do!"

Bulkhead walked up and made a couple placating gestures, glancing back at the two mechs still laughing over some private joke, "Come on, Ratch'. Calm it down."

"Calm is the _last_ thing we need right now!" He bellowed back at him, rage building up in him as the memory of the miner's utter terror refused to leave his mind, "Calm is what lost us Cybertron! The Cons have a warship, an army... All this Energon scouting, you think Megatron isn't gearing up for something big?"

Ratchet paused for a moment, venting hard as he waited just long enough to let them consider his question, "We're squandering our resources, chasing down Megatron's crumbs when we really need to be hitting him hard... hitting him now, _precisely_ where it hurts!"

"A direct assault on the Decepticons would only provoke retaliation and incalculable losses." Optimus replied coolly, his tone clearly defining the end of the discussion, "I will not endanger innocent human lives."

"Oho, really now?" Ratchet asked, his emerald optics smoldering, "Yet you seem to have no problem endangering ours."

"Just ask _Prowl_, or _Tailgate_!" The medic sneered at him, his engine growling with anger, his next words of challenge practically oozing sarcasm, "Oh, wait, I _forgot_! They _couldn't be here today._"

"That's enough!" Arcee yelled at him, shoving him away from them both, her optics filled with a combination of pain and fury.

He tilted his chin up in mutinously smug way, knowing that he'd cut them both so deep that they'd actually stop to listen to his words for once. After all, when one was just a lowly medic, it took a lot more to be heard.

His voice was lowered again, his tone cold, "You know your problem, Optimus? For such a big, strong bot, you're _soft._ You didn't pound Megatron to a _scrap_ when you had the chance - many chances in fact. You want to know why we've faced so many casualties in this never-ending war of yours? You're too _soft _to finish what you and Megatron started."

The Prime's optics were pained, but when he spoke, his voice was hard and unwavering, "I am afraid the synthetic Energon has impaired your judgement, old friend. I am confining you to base until further notice." Touching the side of his helm, he commed base, "Bumblebee, bridge us back."

"Fine." The medic huffed, acting reluctantly subdued.

In the meantime, his processors ran at full speed planning his next move. When the green and purple portal flashed open, he went forward first. Halfway through the event-horizon, Ratchet spun around and sprung up towards Bulkhead, kicking the huge ex-Wrecker over and making a run for it.

Without stopping for a second, the medic transformed into his emergency vehicle alt-mode and sped off, leaving cloud of dust in his wake.

**Present time: Autobot Base**

"Femmeling, the molecular structure of this organic is _intriguing_, is it not?" Jetfire asked as he continued to poke and prod at the little sapling, running several varieties of multi-phasic scans, some of which Terabyte didn't even know existed still.

She had taken the liberty of sending him a language package so that he could follow protocol and use English, but even with English, the mech's way of speaking was strange to her, lilted and melodic in a way that she had never heard before. Perhaps it came from the mech having lived before the War. Maybe things were more different then than she'd thought.

"Jetfire, what exactly is it that you believe in?" She asked bluntly, watching with a small degree of confusion.

He didn't carry himself like a Decepticon, nor did he seem hostile in any way. Honestly, she couldn't tell why Megatron would have kept him, much less posted him as a guard for a planet of such strategic value as Earth. Even when she still thought that the Decepticons were good, she'd grown accustomed to the hard, hostile way about them. She'd just thought that everyone was like that, after all, war was not kind, one couldn't afford to be soft.

But this mech seemed to radiate gentleness in a way that not even the Autobots did. Like he'd never seen a day of war, in spite of the many decavorns that he had lived. She frowned. If he truly had been on Earth for fifty vorns... He may very well have never seen a battle.

"I believe many things, child... What is your meaning?" He replied softly, leaving the sapling alone for long enough to look up at her with sharp gold optics.

"I have not been a child for many vorns..." She objected quietly, her optic ridges pulling together in slight annoyance. Louder, she rephrased her query, "What I mean is this: What do you fight for? What is the cause that drives you?"

The white jet hummed thoughtfully, examining the little evergreen sapling closely. Finally, he muttered to himself, "The organic requires refueling... What do you suppose such a creature would normally ingest?"

Leaning back against the wall, Jetfire began to study her carefully, sounding minorly offended, "I am a pacifist, child, I do not fight. Nor do I believe that your vorns come close to the age I see behind those ruby optics. Your childhood was stolen from you, was it not?"

She clenched her jaw, optics narrowing as her armor flared out a micron further. Forcing a coolly professional tone, Terabyte replied, "You are evading my query."

The mech laughed, a clear, bubbling sound that flowed just as smoothly as his voice, "You are a very perceptive little femmeling, but I must point out that I am not the only one evading queries."

"I asked first." The two-wheeler countered, raising an optic ridge in challenge.

"Very well." The jet replied, still smiling a tiny, amused little smile.

He was about a foot and a half shorter than Skyquake. If the war ever ended, she would have to persuade Skyquake to consider taking on a civilian class frame, as opposed to the battle class that he currently was. He could stand to lose a foot or two in height; after all, he was only taller than everyone she knew. Which was really quite unnecessary since everyone she knew was already significantly taller than her.

Flicking her finials to send away the distracted thoughts, Terabyte waited for the mech's answer, sincerely hoping that he would give an answer she could work with. She may not have stayed online to complete the first part of her mission, but her mission wasn't over yet. The end goal was to persuade the sleeper to join the Autobots rather than returning to the Decepticons.

"The cause by which I am driven is quite simple actually. I strive to bring our people to peace once more, living in harmony with one another, all Cybertronians equal in society. I am driven by the desire to end violence, pain, and sickness... even death." He said softly, his gold optics for the first time showing that he wasn't as unscathed by the war as he seemed.

She tilted her helm slightly to the side, staring at the floor with partially dimmed optics. There had been a time when she still thought such a world was possible. From time to time, it would shine in her dreams, dispersing for a moment the nightmares that plagued her recharge. But she knew better than to think such perfect paradise could be attained. She could enjoy it in her fantasizing, but in reality, she knew there would always be corruption, even in the best of systems.

"In short: Utopia." Terabyte nearly whispered. Kind of like the Archives had spoken of the peak of the Golden Age, before the Council had gained too much power. Long before even Jetfire's time.

"In short." Jetfire conceded, inclining his white helm, accented with red. Raising an optic ridge, the mech gestured for her to answer his question now.

She sighed deeply. "Do you want the short version or the long one?"

The jet looked around the small cell, shut in by a glowing force field. Smiling wryly, he replied, "The long version will serve to keep me occupied during my imprisonment. If you do not object."

The femme stiffened, suddenly becoming acutely aware of being watched. Glancing up at the well-hidden camera in the corner of the room, her optics narrowed slightly. That wasn't why she felt watched though, because she knew it was there when she first entered. This feeling was new.

"I do not object..." She said slowly, extending her EM field outwards in a probing manner. She gasped lightly, her scarlet optics widening as she instantly recognized who the foreign field belonged to.

Pulling her field back in, she stiffened minutely, tightly reigning it back in. However, by the feel of the Prime's field, he was waiting for the appropriate moment to enter, and apparently he didn't think this was it. She swallowed, opting to pretend she hadn't noticed him.

Hopefully he hadn't noticed her noticing his presence.

"Your assumption is partially accurate... When I was a third frame youngling, Protihex - my home - was destroyed by Ultra Magnus and his team." This she spoke with cold hatred burning in her optics, veiling the frightened little femmeling who still cried herself to sleep on an ornly basis. "I didn't know much about the factions of the war, but I didn't really care either. I knew the faction of the mechs responsible for the destruction of my home, so I began the journey to the opposite faction."

"On my way to Kaon, I met an old mech who went by the name Alpha Trion. I... _persuaded_ the mech to construct the frame I now wear, upgrading me directly from the third youngling frame to my adult frame."

Jetfire's optics grew wide with horror and he interrupted, exclaiming, "You _skipped_ both of your developmental femmeling frames? The amount of stress an eleven-vorn premature upgrade would have placed on your spark would have been excruciating!"

Her expression remained stoic, her spark clenching slightly at the memory. "A fact of which I am all too aware. I joined the Decepticon ranks and served under Soundwave loyally for twelve vorns."

"Approximately one Earth year ago, I.." She hesitated, forcing herself not to look up at the camera in the corner of the room. No doubt they would also have audio surveillance systems installed. Only Optimus and Cliffjumper knew the true reason for her initial defection. _I trust you to keep betraying us... _Cliffjumper's voice growled in her helm. It would likely be best that that truth remain a mystery to the team... for now anyway. "... I defected to the Autobots, having grown weary of Starscream's rule."

It wasn't a total lie, she argued mentally as her finial twitched tellingly, she really had been sick of 'Lord Starscream'... "Though I defected, I did not expect them to be kind; the only true knowledge I had of them revolved around the destruction of my home. The Autobots showed kindness to me; however I spent nearly a quartex in their brig. Since my parole, the Autobots have continued to show the same kindness, leading me to slowly suspect that their generosity might possibly be genuine."

"This conclusion was helped along when their scout nearly killed my best friend-"

"Pardon?" Jetfire frowned in puzzlement at the seemingly contradictory statement, "I fail to see the connection between the generosity of the Autobots and the near murder of your best friend..."

She laughed lightly, the gentle tinkling laughter ringing clear, tinged with the pain of the memory, "I could have phrased that differently... They took him in and repaired him, saving his life, in spite of the fact that they very clearly didn't want to."

"A series of events resulting in Optimus Prime contracting Cybonic Plague, also known as Cosmic Rust, resulted in my entering the mind of a comatose Lord Megatron, via a cortical psychic patch. When I exited his mind, Lord Megatron entered mine and commandeered my frame, using me to revive himself with Dark Energon." Terabyte repressed a shudder, "His mind was... pure evil. All he felt was anger, perfect rage, and a malice so deep, not even my own could compare."

She shrugged, leaping from the table to land lightly on her feet in one fluid motion. "The experience planted a doubt in my spark regarding the nobility of the Decepticon cause, a cause which I once thought the same as my own; the same as yours. In the year that I have lived among the mechs I once considered enemies, I have realized that they stand for the very cause that I'd tried to fight for since I joined the War."

The white mech huffed, "In spite of their destroying of your home and family?"

"My duty is to our people, not any one cause, and besides that..." She bit her lip behind her mask and turned around to face the corner she knew the Prime was standing on the other side of. "I have learned an attribute the Decepticons do not hold in high regard. I have learned to forgive, and to not judge a whole race by the misguided actions of one. And likewise not judging one by the actions of her whole race."

Optimus smiled at her softly as he came around the corner, his cobalt optics seeming cut through to her spark, making her feel - as his gaze always did - as though he could read her mind and see into her spark. Turning to Jetfire, the Autobot leader spoke in regal tones, "The same refuge that we have opened to Terabyte is free also for you to enjoy, if you so wish... We could use another warrior in the laboratory to revive our people and our world."

"Cybertron has perished then?" Jetfire asked somberly, his golden optics narrowing and gaining a hard, determined gleam to them. His engine hummed lightly, and he nodded his white helm, looking the Prime straight in the optics, "To quote the femme, my duty is to our people. Science leaves no margin for unfounded faith in the undeserving leadership of a Dark-En corrupted madmech."

"It is decided then. I see no reason to doubt you, nor have you given me any reason not to trust you. As soon as we have recovered our medic, you will assist him in his duties."

**Next Day**

Sighing deeply, the little two-wheeler padded along down the hall, with Skyquake draping an arm over her shoulder. His armor was pressed close to his frame, and as usual, he was making himself seem far smaller than actuality. In spite of his cheerful, teasing rambling, Terabyte just couldn't get herself to perk up, or even really listen all that much.

"-the mech's face though!" He giggled, making her look up at him in bemused surprise. Skyquake never _giggled_... "Cliffjumper just leans in real close and he's like, 'Boo!' and the poor mech - you should've seen it! - he squeals like he just saw his own ghost and faints right there on the spot!"

She smiled up at him, her mask long since dropped, rolling her shoulder-wheels to shift her friend's huge arm to a more comfortable position. At his mention of Cliffjumper, her optics went sort of blank, though she continued to hold the weak pretense of nothing being wrong. She cocked her helm slightly, consternation writing itself onto her face as she noticed something completely wrong about Skyquake's face.

Or more specifically, about his optics. The brilliant shade of ruby was replaced with a deep, emerald. An emerald that was eerily familiar, though she couldn't remember where she'd seen that shade of green before...

She yelped in surprise as the battle jet scooped her up in one swift move, placing her on his shoulders and beaming up at her with a mischievous twinkle in his oddly green optics. She grinned back down at him, flicking the top of his helm with a clawed servo.

Feigning ultimate ignorance, Terabyte exclaimed, her expression mostly serious aside from a tiny quirk of her lips, "Why, _sir_! I _do _fear some mischief is afoot, for you seem to have shrunk a good ten feet!"

He laughed, "Dear confused little femme... You're quite mistaken, for I remain unaltered. You see, I didn't shrink, you merely leapt onto my shoulders in a fright."

"Hmm... I see." She hummed thoughtfully putting her chin on her hands, propping her elbows on his helm as he continued sauntering down the hall, going nowhere in particular. "And what, might I ask, did I 'leap onto your shoulders' to escape from, pin-cushion?"

Flicking a wing and bumping her into the huge spike on his left shoulder, Skyquake tickled the sensitive protoform exposed in her golden ankle with a snicker as she squealed and kicked her feet, pulling them up under her so she was standing like a cyber-hawk on his shoulders, "A tickling perhaps?"

Terabyte shrieked again as he reached up and tickled her sides, her laughter echoing through the empty halls. As she reached out to tickle the tips of his wings, neither noticed that they'd made their way to the offices. She crowed with victory as the mech doubled over with laughter - nearly dislodging her from the precarious perch - flicking his wings every which way to escape.

"You _know_ I'll win!" The dark two-wheeler taunted, her scarlet optics gleaming with merriment.

Her victory was short-lived though as Skyquake recovered and caught her by the wrists, preventing her from tickling him as he grinned evilly up at her and put a single servo on her left shoulder-tire. Her optics went a little wider and her mouth fell into a tiny 'o' before she started squirming madly, shrieking, "Don't you _dare_! Stop! _Stop_!"

She burst into a fit of laughter as he spun her tire the wrong way in its socket, sending a thrill of vibrations up through her whole frame, leaving her in a helpless giggling pile on his shoulders, his own deep laughter joining in with hers. Her optics shut tightly as she giggled breathlessly, hot pink coolant sparkling in the edges of her optics.

Finally, she recovered enough to go perfectly stiff as a board, all of her muscle cables tensing up and her mask locking into place. Her engine stalled for a minute before her armor flared back out and she struggled for several klicks to pull herself into an upright, minutely more dignified position perched on Skyquake's shoulders.

Skyquake giggled like a sparkling high on sweet-En for a little longer, making her attempt at looking dignified significantly more challenging as he shook with mirth beneath her. Eventually he seemed to notice the change in her EM field and he straightened, going stiff as he too locked optics on the mech who stood just a meter or two away with one optic ridge raised so far up his face it would have been comical.

Terabyte held her gaze on the mech for several more klicks, her expression carefully, warily guarded as she anticipated the various responses what the Prime had just witnessed would elicit.

"Skyquake, Terabyte..." Optimus started slowly, blinking his cobalt optics and clearing his vents. He hesitated for a brief moment before visibly making a concentrated effort to lower his optic ridge, inclining his helm to them politely, "Good morning... Ah... Yes. Is there anything I may assist you with?"

Behind her mask, the midnight navy femme couldn't help but smirk a tiny bit at the normally regal Matrix-bearer's obvious floundering.

She shook her helm curtly, choosing to act as though it was perfectly normal to be sitting on Skyquake's shoulders like a youngling. "No, sir... Have we been able to locate Ratchet's life-signal?"

The Prime blinked again, appearing to regain a portion of his composure. "Not yet. Arcee is still scanning for it, with Jetfire's aid. They expect to have a lock on it within the joor."

"Understood sir."

With that, the scarlet and cobalt Autobot leader nodded again and stepped back into his office, closing the door behind him slowly, apparently having forgotten about what he'd exited his office to do in the first place.

She and Skyquake glanced at each other silently before grinning. Terabyte dropped her mask and put a thin silver servo up to her lips as the fighter jet bit his lip, gently setting her back down.

Once they were out of hearing range, Skyquake burst into a roaring laughter, which receded into another fit of giggles. Soon Terabyte had joined in and they both stood there laughing for a good breem before she finally recovered enough to beam up at him.

"That was good." She snickered again at the memory of the Prime's expression, "I don't think I've ever seen him so... decomposed..."

The jet bust up laughing again at that, making her frown slightly, not quite getting it until he wheezed, "Decomposed?"

She grinned as she realized what was so funny, and soon she was unable to resist laughing at the mental image Skyquake had no-doubt come up with. "You ding! Wrong word! I meant discomfited!"

Laughing too hard to speak, the mech commed the image to her over a private link, watching for her reaction. Terabyte opened the image file and bit her lip hard. It wasn't even that funny, but they'd both reached a point at which everything was hilarious. Skyquake had sent her a little cartoony image of a 'decomposed' Prime, making her snort loudly with laughter, which of course brought on a whole new fit of laughter.

Terabyte beamed up at Skyquake with clear, ruby optics shining with a true joy she hadn't felt for vorns. It was at times like these that one could almost forget that there was even a war raging just outside the safe confines of their base.

Just outside the safe confines of what she - in such a state of happiness - could dare to call a home.


	43. Shadows Around Us

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 43**

**Shadows Around Us**

* * *

**Okay, folks, new chappie! As the usual disclaimer, I don't own Transformers, or the Transformers: Prime television series. This chapter is a little ball of fluffy death, so... Enjoy!**

**Also, thank you all for your input, I have decided on a ship name for TB and Sky! Enter, *dramatic drumroll*... TeraQuake! Yay!**

* * *

_"No, no, no... Terabyte, you need to aim higher! For my helm, or my stomach at least." Skyquake rumbled exasperatedly, grabbing her golden ankle from where he'd ordered her to hold it as he reviewed her on the latest form he'd shown her. _

_The mech pulled her pede up higher, making her wince and hop closer to relieve her screaming cables, only for him to chuckle and nudge her foot back to its original postion with one foot. _

_Grinning at her glare, Skyquake shrugged a wing lightly, "You do not handle close-quarters combat as well as you could. You're far more than adept in your long-range attacks, and yet in hand-to-hand combat you do not take full advantage of your frame: your pedes can do far more in battle than leap and carry you. An elegant, flying kick to my shins will do very little to slow my attack. You must learn to aim higher."_

_"I'm greatly inspired by the philosophical speech." She replied sarcastically, her mask flipped up, serving both to display her annoyance and also to hide her discomfort. "But you don't seem to have realized that your stomach is optic-level for me... In case you hadn't noticed, I'm slightly shorter than your average battle-class jet. You aren't giving me a fair chance."_

_His jaw clenched and he narrowed his clear ruby optics at her, letting her pede collapse down to the floor. When he pulled his wings back to a rigid angle, the little femme wondered if she'd gone just a little too far. _

_Skyquake growled at her, the rumble of his engine reverberating through the whole training arena, "War isn't fair, Terabyte. Little people get pitched into unfair battles against enemies with all the advantages in their favor. If you get stuck in a fight with the Prime, or Ultra Magnus, or anyone my size, you won't be able to call a time-out and request a different sparring partner; you either survive or you don't!"_

_She opened her mouth to cut in, but in spite of her mask, the jet knew and raised a servo to silence her, continuing, towering over her in a way that displayed his true, terrifyingly intimidating size for all that it was. He always made such an effort to appear smaller when he was with her, but he'd dropped the facade, sending a shiver down her struts. Her armor pressed tight against her protoform, and she cowered slightly in his shadow, even though she knew he would never hurt her. It was so easy to forget just how huge huge could be._

_"Yes, I know your size puts you at a disadvantage; I've never met a Cybertronian as small as you. By the pits of Kaon, femme, I'm probably more aware of your size than you are!" He roared, his optics filled with an anger that showed more worry than anything else. _

_He also seemed to realize that he was scaring her and he turned his back to her with his helm down, taking a moment to vent deeply, his tone softening, "Tera, it is __**because**__ of your size that I push you so hard. Too hard maybe. But I want you- I __**need**__ you to be stronger and faster and deadlier than anyone should ever have to be." _

_"Because I..." Here the mech hesitated, facing her once again, his posturing returning to the usual, smaller-looking way he always held himself around her. "At this point, I'm not sure what I would do, what I would become if- if I lost you... And I don't ever want to have to find that out."_

_She averted her gaze, dropping the mask and biting her lip, feeling guilty now for having complained so rudely. Finally the Prussian blue and black two-wheeler looked up at him with her apology already written in her yellow optics. _

_Giving him quick little hug and backing away, she said quietly, "I'm sorry... I know you're right, it's just that-"_

_The spy cut herself off and frowned minutely as she noticed that Skyquake's ruby optics had gone wide and dim, his massive frame swaying in an off-balance manner, his lips parted in silent cry of agony. His face was twisted into an expression of more terror and pain than she'd ever before seen on a face-plate._

_"KMECC." He muttered, swaying again, causing her frown to deepen. KMECC: Kaon Medical Emergency Care Center. When he crashed down to the floor, the little femme yelped in panic, clueless as to what could possibly be wrong with him. _

_Rushing to his side, she scanned his vitals and gasped at the readings that told her that he was 'experiencing severe trauma and in risk of imminent spark failure'. _

_"Sweet Cybertron, what did I do to you?" She whispered, hacking through to the priority one emergency comm-lines to the space bridge facility in Kolkular. Pulling on a crisp, professional tone, she waited for the response that came in hardly an astro-second. _

_/This is the Kolkular Priority One Space Bridge comm-line, please state your name, rank, and the nature of the emergency./_

_/This is First Major Terabyte of Decepticon Communications and Intelligence, I need a space bridge from the enclosed coordinates to the Kaon Emergency Medical Care Center immediately./ She sent coolly, acting as though requesting a space bridge within the same planet was perfectly normal, hoping that the mech would just reroute her to someone who could actually do it._

_/Uh... The space bridge is not equipped for transport within the same planet, Major. A mere transport does not constitute use of the priority one comm-line. How did you get this frequency? You are not authorized to use this line, please vacate this frequency./_

_She took a deep vent, snarling at the mech before responding with crisp, tidy glyphs, her left finial twitching as she spewed a bunch of official sounding lies. /My superior officer gave me the authorization to use this line. This is a priority one emergency, do not question my superior's orders. Transfer me to the mech in charge of space bridge control./_

_Skyquake's vitals were continuing to drop, making her desperation grow with every astrosecond. She watched his expressions shift and twist as he lay inert._

_/This is the Constructicon, Hook, head of Space Bridge control./ Even the mech's glyphs seemed to radiate a sense of self-superiority. /My expertise was requested?/_

_/I need a space bridge from the enclosed coordinates to the Kaon Medical Emergency Care Center./ She repeated curtly, her patience at an end._

_There was a pause before the mech replied again, his glyphs more deliberate now, the written tone suspiciously sly, /It's not possible./_

_The femme growled again, /I am not some incompetent drone to be so easily deceived, Constructicon. I am familiar enough with space bridge functions to understand that while it is inconvenient and very energy expending, such a jump is possible with a capable engineer./ She paused for a moment, pursing her lips with displeasure as she began laying on flattery, /I am sure that such an experienced and accomplished engineer as yourself would find this task to be relatively simple?/_

_The mech took a minute to absorb her flattery before responding, /Unfortunately your understanding of the space bridge technology appears to be flawed. Even if it were possible... I don't exactly feel __**motivated**__ enough by your... compliments. Hook out./_

_She sneered at the empty air in front of her, checking Skyquake's vitals again. The scan simply stated, 'Acquire medical aid'. Finding that the mech had left the channel open, she let out a loud rumble of her engine, losing her cool to the extent that it showed plainly in her glyphs, /Oh, really? Is the fact that the Lord Protector's protege will die if you don't motivation enough for you? I don't care if you have to re-engineer half the dying planet to do it. You will do as ordered or I will have you court-martialled into the next __**Rust Age! **__And don't you __**dare**__ tell me I don't have the power to do so, because believe me, I have the power to bring __**Megatron**__ himself to your doorstep with a single word, and there won't be a single rock you could hide from his wrath under between this galaxy and the next. Get me a space bridge, __**now**__!/_

_The line went dead silent, aside from the light buzz indicating that the mech hadn't closed it. The silence drug on for half a klick before Hook responded with a curt, /Sir, yes, sir!/_

_Within half a breem the little femme was standing outside a plexi-glass surgical ward, watching medics rush around two enormous battle-class jets in a frenzy with myriad of tools and monitors and wires coming out of the jet twins, who lay side by side on two medical berths pushed together._

_Dreadwing's chassis had a giant hole in it, right above his spark chamber, while Skyquake was completely undamaged, yet lay in the same comatose state in danger of spark failure. The medics knew what they were doing, fixing the damage while keeping the twins' spark as close together as possible. After all, one spark was stronger than a half. _

_She simply stood there watching stoically, her fear and troubled thoughts carefully hidden behind her mask. Her optics remained blank, not really seeing the controlled chaos in the surgical ward in front of her._

_She knew that this was just a part of how twins worked. That without one, the other would perish or go mad, as evidenced by Shadowlight, who she supposed had been 'put down' by now. Her fangs dug into her lip as she unknowingly worried her lower lip until it leaked life-En. This was just part of how twins worked, she told herself mentally. _

_The medics would get Dreadwing stabilized and then Skyquake would be fine. The jet twins would likely be inseparable for several orns as their spark recovered from the trauma of half nearly fading, and then things would be fine. This was just how twins worked. _

_Nearly three joors passed as she stood there, unmoving, before the last of the medics finally filed out, dried life-En and other fluids on the red mech's hands. He stood beside her for a moment, watching the twins with a sigh._

_"Well, that was exciting!" Knockout exclaimed finally, setting a crusty hand on her shoulder, which she ignored. "Wouldn't you agree? I think that went quite __**exceptionally**__ well... In fact, the bolt-helmed jerks might even survive my modifications."_

_"What did you do to them?" She demanded, her optics widening slightly before narrowing as she whirled on him, growling lowly, "If they die, I will __**personally **__ensure-"_

_"Ensure what? My death? As if I care." The red medic snorted, grinning, "Besides, I only rearranged their internals so that disemboweling them would be more artistic next time."_

_She slammed her claws into Knockout's shiny, newly polished chest-plates, shoving the mech into the wall with a flash of sparks as she shredded the paint on his dorsal plating, sneering at the vain mech, "Actually, had you allowed me to finish, I was __**going**__ to say that I would personally ensure that you would be so hideously mutilated that not even you could fix the damage."_

_His grin melted right off his face and she watched with a smirk as he pictured the amount of damage she'd just pledged to do. His tone was stiff, "You needn't concern yourself, Major. Your mech will be just fine."_

_She drew away and made her way to the surgical ward doors, turning to give the dark warning, "I expect no less of you."_

Skyquake smiled as he watched Terabyte slip through the door to her quarters, her beautiful twinkling laughter still shining on her perfect - in spite of the jagged scar that spanned it - faceplates. For the first time since he'd awoken, her ruby optics reflected the bright smile that graced her lips.

He stood outside her door for quite awhile, staring at its gray surface, contemplating whether or not he ought to comm for an escort, or simply escort himself. Technically, neither he nor Terabyte were supposed to so much as go to the wash-racks without an escort. Yet, the Prime had done nothing to stop them when they ran into him in the hall outside his office. Surely he would have reprimanded them if rebuke was due.

In the end, he didn't have to decide, because as he argued with himself, pede-falls were approaching. The large jet turned around slowly, his armor rustling as he rolled his shoulders and yawned in a bored fashion.

"Bug!" He roared in greeting, slapping the yellow scout on the back in a friendly gesture that not-so-accidentally sent the scout stumbling forward several steps. "What brings you here?"

**"My feet, obviously." **Bumblebee whirled, shooting an annoyed look his way before cocking one of his large black optic ridges, **"You seem cheery."**

Skyquake shrugged, swinging his machine gun out of subspace and twirling it around. It wasn't like he'd _actually_ given Optimus _all_ of his weapons when he'd defected. That would have been absurdly dumb. Besides, Prime didn't seem to have an issue with it, since he never brought it up all the time he'd used his trusty machine gun in battle. To be perfectly honest, the Autobots had been ridiculously lenient with him as a defector.

Too lenient.

The jet just flicked a wing, not caring too much. If the mechs wanted to risk him being armed and given pretty much free-reign, that was their problem. It wasn't as if him being unarmed actually made him any less of a threat anyway. He was a Pit-fighter after all. He didn't need weapons to tear a mech apart.

That was what had annoyed him so much about Dreadwing: his code of honor as he called it kept him from fighting like a savage beast when necessary. He fought all civilized and then wondered why Skyquake always had to go berserk and rip mechs' sparks out through their optics. The blue and gold jet just let himself get pummeled when his enemies didn't fight with his level of dignity, leaving Skyquake to rescue him.

Of course, Skyquake had a decently high standard when it came to honor, but when push came to shove, the Pits weren't an honorable place and they had to survive one way or another. Dying was dying whether it was done honorably or not.

He scowled at the thoughts that had come into his mind against his will and without his understanding. Who was this Dreadwing? Why was he everywhere in his past? Apparently he hadn't remembered everything yet, in spite of the medic's assurances that he should have regained all of his memories by now.

It was as if half of him was missing.

**"Uh... yeah... okay, sure. Why don't I take you to your quarters and you get a nice long recharge and defrag..." **Bumblebee muttered, giving him a weird look before walking off in the direction of his shared quarters. He must have spoken some of that out loud.

The jet scowled harder and stomped off after the scout, his faceplates hardened with concentration as he tried to force the memories into his mind. When they finally arrived at the right door, Skyquake just went inside and slammed a fist into the close button, sliding the door shut in the yellow youngling's face.

**"Well, goodnight to you too!"** The scout's angry blipping coming through the door in a muffled string.

Skyquake punched the door, leaving an imprint of his spiked fist in its surface, not entirely sure what he'd hoped to accomplish by the action. Other than mess up Cliffjumper's door and make his knuckles sting slightly.

"Aren't we cheerful this orn?" The red mech commented with a grin, making Skyquake turn to glare at him.

Only to find that the mech was hanging upside-down from the roof, his awkwardly diamond-shaped foot pierced through the roof and bridging the gap in such a way that there was no chance of the red warrior freeing himself. Skyquake snickered, walking around the Autobot and lying down on the large berth beneath the trapped mech, shuttering his optics with a smug smirk tugging at his lips.

"It's getting late, Cliffjumper..." He grinned wickedly, "Now's really not the best time to be hanging around."

Cliffjumper laughed, swaying back and forth where he hung before glaring at the lounging jet. "Aww, c'mon, that wasn't even funny! Lend a mech a hand, could ya?"

The ex-Con just took a deep, shuddery vent as though he were falling asleep, shrugging nonchalantly. "Obviously it was funny, since you laughed. As far as a hand goes, the Doc-bot probably has a spare in the cargo bay, though I'm not sure how much that would help you."

"Y'know, I'll just dangle here hardly two feet above your helm staring at you creepily while you recharge, plotting hilarious ways of murdering you." The red mech declared finally, crossing his arms and proceeding to stare down at him intently.

Normally that wouldn't bother him, except that now that it had been mentioned, Skyquake felt like Scraplets were crawling through his armor. He flicked one optic open and glared at the mech above him. About two breems passed.

He had several obsidian throwing daggers in his subspace... He hadn't figured those counted as weapons, per say, so he hadn't given them to the Prime either. Maybe he could use those to get the red warrior to stop staring at him. Although, he looked ridiculous hanging there by his silver, mangled foot. Maybe getting stared at was worth the amusement.

Another breem passed and his engine gave a disgruntled rumble. Cliffjumper wasn't kidding when he said he'd stare at him all night long. Skyquake sighed, wondering how long the Prime would keep him around if he tore his interrogator into about a billion shiny red pieces. He'd keep the horns as a souvenir. Grinning at the thought, the jet made a pouty face as he considered how Terabyte would react to that.

Not that the red mech had been treating her very well. She refused to tell him what the red malfunction of a mech had done, but it was obvious that whatever it was had crushed her. It was plain enough to see when she practically wilted every time she saw Cliffjumper, no matter how happy she was prior to seeing him.

Prime wouldn't appreciate Skyquake showering the base with Autobot confetti though. A shame, really.

"Fine! Just quit leaking fluids on me already, it's disgusting." Skyquake snarled finally, wiping drool off his chassis and standing up on the berth, which groaned under his weight.

He grabbed the mech by the ankle and yanked him out of the roof, reigning dust down on the two of them. Rather than putting the mech down, the green jet just leapt off the berth, swinging Cliffjumper by the ankle, holding his helm about an inch above the floor.

"Put me down!" Cliffjumper protested, swiping at Skyquake's pedes.

The jet swung him out far enough that the Autobot couldn't reach him. Skyquake smirked, "Ah-ah-ah! Play nice now, Little Mech."

Ignoring him, the red mech started swinging back and forth, getting closer to the jet with every swing. Before long, the mech had built up the momentum to almost reach, his victorious smile suggesting that Cliffjumper thought he was going to succeed.

Skyquake cocked his helm and smiled innocently, waving at the mech youngling-ishly. "Bye-bye."

He let go, giggling as his freed prisoner crashed down on his helm, thumping down to the floor with a groan. He took a step forward and looked down at Cliffjumper, still chuckling, "You said put you down."

"Not that way!" Cliffjumper objected, his tone playfully whiny. After a moment, his emerald optics brightened and a mischevious smile lit his face, "I'm bored... Wanna go see if the neighbors wanna play?"

The synth-En'd ex-Con returned the grin with one of his own, catching the mech's drift with an anticipatory growl. "Lobbing, laser-tag, maybe darts too."

"Sounds like a plan!"

He swirled through the air, taking pleasure in manipulating the wide sky as though he owned it. It was a good night to fly. The sky was perfectly clear, the stars bright and sparkling in the blackness, the light of the moon blanketing the world in a silvery twilight. The only thing that would make the flight better would be a change in passengers.

Cliffjumper was significantly heavier than Terabyte, and his balance was just plain embarrassing. Not to mention her company was far more desirable than the current passenger's. All things considered though, the red mech was by no means his least favorite person.

Skyquake caught sight of their soon-to-be playmate and dove straight for the target, flicking a wing at his passenger, whose grip had tightened painfully on the edge of his wings.

"Look out below!" He sang, transforming mid-air and bracing his pedes for impact.

Kicking the confused mech in the back of the helm, Skyquake dropped into a smooth roll on touchdown, grinning as Cliffjumper crashed to the ground a few moments later, the sharpness of his decline resulting in the miserably failed barrel roll. The red mech sprang up cheerily like that hadn't happen, stopping only for a klick to shake himself like a photovoltaic cat.

"Heya, Blitz-brain!" Cliffjumper crowed, kicking the mech in the abdomen as he rose. The kick was neither friendly nor particularly damaging, simply unpleasant.

The triple-changer glared at them and looked around the solitary desert area that they'd ambushed him in. "Vhat do you vant, Ahtzobahts?"

"Ve vantz to eatch your brains." The red mech replied, mocking the mech's strange accent. He laughed cruelly, making even the triple-changer shift his armor in a minorly unnerved manner, "We want to play!"

Skyquake snickered at the mech, pulling out a handful of his obsidian throwing knives, flicking a few to Cliffjumper casually. He pulled himself up to his full height and flared his armor just barely, snickering again as Blitzwing charged his freeze-ray and pulled a couple missiles out of subspace.

"Ooh, ve like games!" The mech replied, his face switching to the crazy one. The red lights of his optics and mouth shone particularly brighter than normal as he swung his freeze-ray around, "Vhat do you zink about playing dodge-ze-meessles? Or, I know! Ve could play freeze-tag! Zat vould be fun..."

They leapt out of the way as the triple-changer started rapidly firing ice-pellets and missiles in all directions, not appearing to be aiming in any specific direction. The green jet grinned and tossed a dagger as he sprung over a missile as it blew, using a light tap of his thrusters to clear the blast.

A howl from the Decepticon phase-sixer declared that his aim was true as ever. Wing injuries were by far among the most painful. Skyquake grunted as his foot froze over, one of Blitzwing's shots hitting its mark, the pellet exploding into a thick casing of ice around his lower pede.

"Ten points if you hit his wings!" He hollered at Cliffjumper, listening to the red warrior's taunting as he threw daggers like they were lobbing balls, missing his mark almost every time.

The red mech rolled between the triple-changer's legs and stabbed the mech in the center of the back, hitting a thick motor-neural cluster, giggling as the massive warmech shrieked and fell to the ground, his motor relays temporarily short-circuited. The jet-tank's arms and pedes flopped and flailed as the mech writhed and convulsed, performing something reminescent of the human's chicken dance.

"Bulls-eye!" Skyquake roared, his booming laughter not quite drowning out Blitzwing's angry gurgling. The wound in itself was more embarrassing than damaging, and the results were hilarious. "Blitz is on the fritz!"

At that, Cliffjumper choked on his laughter, doubling over as he shook with silent mirth, his vocalizer glitching out for nearly a klick. Finally he just spluttered, "Blitz... fritz... Perfect!"

In the midst of their laughter, neither mech noticed the triple-changer had risen and now stood over them with a dagger in each hand, a wicked grin on his red commando face, "You zink zat vas funny?! Let's shee how vell you like it vhen _you_ are writhing in ze dusht!"

Skyquake ducked just in time to dodge the incensed Decepticon's blow, turning just in time to see Cliffjumper's face contort into the embodiment of horror as his frame collapsed and began twitching in a display even more amusing than Blitzwing's had been. All the same, the red mech could be heard giggling uncontrollably as his frame flopped around as though he had a swarm of rustmites under his armor.

The green jet swung at Blitzwing's helm, then planted his servos firmly on the triple-changer's wing-cons and shoved his weight over the ducked-down mech, forcing a deep grunt from the mech's engine, nearly drowned out by Skyquake's laughing, "Leap frog!"

He howled as the tan and purple mech copied his action perfectly, balancing his massive weight all on Skyquake's wing connectors for a moment before seating himself on the green jet's wings, pulling on his helm with a crazed snicker, "Blitzving see, Blitzving do, Blitzving trying somethink new! Giddyup, traitor!"

His engine let out a deep growl and Skyquake collapsed to his hands and knees under the larger mech's weight, trying to think of a way to shake the mech off. Blitzwing was now clubbing his helm with the freeze-ray/flame-gun. The synth-En made his processors fuzzy, making it hard to think straight.

Fortunately, he didn't have to think about it very long before a second mech leapt on his back for an astrosecond, balancing precariously until the three of them tumbled into a pile of armor, wings, and weapons, each mech punching and kicking and yanking on arms, pedes, wings, and tires indiscriminately.

This wild, jumbled catfight lasted several klicks, every time one mech got the upper hand, another would pull him down and the advantages would shift. Soon life-En was soaking into the dust as they rolled and scrabbled for every hit, staining the earth both green and blue as they fought like wild creatures as opposed to mechs, each spewing insults and taunts, all three of them giggling, and growling, and mocking in turn.

All of a sudden, Blitzwing and Skyquake let out a synchronized scream as a pair of daggers sliced through each of their wings, leaving both mechs in shock and leaking. Skyquake grabbed hold of Cliffjumper's neck and shook him repeatedly, pressing his claws harder and harder into the mech's plating, an animalistic growl rumbling from his engine as his emerald optics burned with a wild, instinctual fury.

He was beyond words, just shaking the mech roughly before flinging him aside with a disgusted snarl, whirling around to glare at the triple-changer, all three of them venting harshly and dripping life-En that both did and didn't belong to them.

The three mechs stood in a loose triangle, glaring at each other as they began to circle around each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Every now and then, Cliffjumper would let out a short giggle, which soon spread over to Skyquake also.

"You mechs are eensane. You are going zoo get yourshelfs keelled." The blue-faced mech said logically, his face switching to red fury as a twitch of his wing no doubt shot a spike of agony through him, "Preeferably by me!"

"Oh, we know we're crazy," Cliffjumper replied, grinning as lime green synth-En rolled down from the corner of his mouth. "But we aren't gonna get ourselves killed, yet. Cause, hey look, there's a conveniently placed phase-sixer soon to be at our mercies!"

Skyquake chuckled, "Bye."

With that, the two Autobots glanced at each other briefly, pouncing on the tan and purple jet-tank, punching, kicking, and ripping with their bare hands, the Decepticon's resistance doing very little to slow their attacks. Skyquake grunted as the triple-changer back-handed him in the faceplate, sending him staggering back several steps before charging again, ripping Blitzwing's arm right out of its socket, wrenching yet another howl from the triple-changer's vocalizers.

He stared down at the tan and purple limb, the jet turbine still mounted on the shoulder plate, which was still attached to the arm. The green jet stared between it and the mech he'd torn it off of, the fight coming to a brief halt as they all stared at the limb, watching the sparks fly from the exposed protoform.

After a little bit, Skyquake shook his helm, shaking himself from his stupor. He shrugged and snorted, snapping his fingers and shaking his helm in exaggerated disappointment, "Well, slag. They just don't make phase-sixers the way they used to."

Grinning wickedly, the green jet commenced the battle once again, clubbing the mech with his own arm. Blitzwing was still fighting, but his silence spoke volumes to the damage he'd sustained. His reactions were growing slower, and his red optics were going dim from the Energon loss.

Skyquake wrenched on the jet's wings and punched his spiked fist into the mech's arm socket, showering them all in sparks and spurts of more life-En. The triple-changer let out a ragged scream, falling to his knees and dragging Cliffjumper along with him, bringing a confused scowl to the green jet's face.

Then he saw the red warrior's fist embedded in Blitzwing's graying chassis, life-En pouring from the hole and dripping down Cliffjumper's forearm. Skyquake's grin faded slightly as he felt the signature jolt of energy run through him as the Decepticon's spark terminated. The inexplicable glee that had flooded him drained out of him in less than an astrosecond.

"Game over." Skyquake said quietly, tightening his grip on the dead mech's removed arm. He chuckled weakly at the flapping of the lifeless fingers, trying to regain the contented, pointlessly, indiscriminately, nonchalantly happy state that he had been in just a few klicks ago.

He just didn't feel it any more.

A mixture of green and blue Energon slipped down the length of his arms, dripping from his servo-tips. A sick feeling was forming in his tanks and he looked down at the shiny tan arm, noting that the reflection of his optics shown ruby once more as the emerald faded from them.

As he stood there, staring down at the shredded, mutilated, tortured gray frame that Cliffjumper gently lowered to the ground, pulling his arm out of the chassis with the utmost caution. Skyquake watched with a blank expression as the red warrior started straightening the mech's lifeless pedes and arms, laying his mangled wings flat.

The hulking green jet's armor clamped down and his posture sagged back into his usual, pointedly non-threatening position. He crouched down beside the dead mech's body as Cliffjumper stepped back, reaching forward and gently touching the mech's eerily smooth, flat faceplate, placing the removed arm beside the mech.

Pulling a paint pod from his subspace, Skyquake clenched his jaw and dipped a finger in the royal purple paint, used for one specific purpose. Ordinarily it was only used to adorn one's dearly beloved, or a highly respected war hero. However, this felt right. He slowly, carefully drew the appropriate glyphs on the mech's faceplate.

_Blitzwing, Phase 6 Combatant of the Lord Protector's Elite_

_A Worthy Warrior, Slain Honorably in Battle,_

_Slain by the Unworthy._

Skyquake rose and stepped back with a grim expression, reciting the ritual blessing, "May the Well shine bright this orn."

He turned his back to the gray frame of the dead mech, seating himself several paces away from the husk, crossing his pedes beneath him, laying his hands in his lap. Not long afterwards, Cliffjumper joined him in the same, stoic position. Skyquake glared at his life-En encrusted hands with disgust.

"What did we just do?" Cliffjumper whispered, staring at his own hands.

Skyquake growled, his tone empty. He flicked a wing, biting back a hiss as he was reminded of the nasty gash Cliffjumper had sliced into the sensitive paneling. "We have helped to even the odds of this war in the Autobots' favor. We took out one of the last of the phase-sixers. We should be proud; this could win us the war."

"But we aren't."

"From a less strategic view point," The green jet rumbled, pulling at a rather deep wound in his arm, the damaged protoform leaking profusely, "We just tore a mech apart with our bare hands after mercilessly torturing him for our own amusement. We murdered a mech for mere sport, and we had _fun_ doing it."

Together they sat in an empty silence, dripping life-En from a myriad of wounds as the sun began to rise, painting the sky in its rich hues of scarlet; the beauty lost on both of them as it seemed to depict the guilt that weighed heavily on their sparks.

**Meanwhile: Autobot Base**

"What'cha doin'?"

Terabyte glanced up at the pink-haired little human girl with a fond twinkle in her blood red optics, her biolights casting a red tint around her, bathing the girl's face in its scarlet light. Miko sat cross-legged on the table in front of her, watching the dark femme work. The two-wheeler tilted her helm slightly and swivelled her finials as she worked to get the circuitry spliced together just right, using the extra sensory data from her finials to boost her accuracy.

"I am..." She paused for a moment as she adjusted a particularly tricky portion of the microchip that she was constructing from the supplies she kept in her subspace. She hummed in light frustration and re-adjusted the tiny, self-recharging power cell again before continuing, "Restocking my supply of... tracking chips, because..."

Another few connections, installing the signal transmitter, "My former commander is no longer... going to be willing to... supply his traitorous officers... with..."

"Thingy-bobbers." Miko finished for her as she broke off again to solder the last few wires into the circuit, clasping the thin, titanium based shell over the top with a light, satisfying click.

"... Yes. The... thingy-bobbers. I used the last of Soundwave's a while ago, but this is the first chance I have gotten to manufacture more." She said, passing the delicate tracking device to Miko, smiling behind her mask at the way the girl's face lit up as she grabbed it and turned it around in her hands, the device being just smaller than her flip-phone.

"Sa-weet!" Miko muttered, setting it back down carefully. "So you just slap this on whoever you want, and then you can like, virtually stalk them? Does it have cameras and microphones in it too? Cause that would be some wicked spy gear if it did."

Terabyte grinned full out now, even though the girl could see little more than her optics. "Ordinarily, yes, but the Decepticons ran out of the components several vorns ago when an Autobot hijacker-team jettisoned a whole cargo hold full of tech."

The excitable girl's eyes brightened as she imagined the battle, and a grin split her face, her pony-tails seeming to bounce with her curiosity. "I'll bet it was the Wreckers!"

The midnight black and navy femme's smile faded slightly, "Actually, it was a special operations team that included the Shadow of the Autobots and the Terror Twins. Their goal was to jettison the Lord Protector, an act that would have crippled the Decepticon forces, and very likely could have ended the war before we were even in the same quadrant as Earth."

"The Shadow of the Autobots and the Terror Twins? Epic!" Miko leaned forward, bobbing her head encouragingly, her fingers lacing together in anticipation as she demanded, "Tell _all_."

Terabyte lay on her front on the floor of the kids' entertainment center, kicking her pedes in the air, all three of the humans sprawled out in different positions, each one listening raptly. Even Jack had come over and was laying on the sofa, propping his head up on his hand as he listened to Terabyte's story. Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead each leaned against the banister, listening to her tale with just as much interest as the children.

"The silver mech came out of nowhere, crashing down on my shoulders, his weight slamming me face-first into the floor. I sprung to my pedes, dagger and mini-cannon charged and ready, but I hadn't even noticed that he'd moved before he had my arms locked behind my back and his sword at my throat. Already I could feel the life-En trickling from where the blade pressed, the loss of Energon from my other wounds beginning to cloud my processors."

"What did you do?" Raf asked in hushed tones, as though his voice would shatter the air.

"He pressed the blade even deeper into my protoform, the blue light of his visor gleaming in the corner of my optics. Leaning over my shoulder, his grin was audible in his smooth voice, 'Sweetspark,' he said, addressing me as though I were a long-lost friend-"

"Autobots," Optimus called from the terminal where the others were supposed to have been scanning for Ratchet, Cliffjumper, and Skyquake. "Ratchet's signal has come back online. Prepare to roll out."

Terabyte sprung up from where she was lying and raised an optic ridge at the kids' moaning. "And... we will have to finish the story another time."

She started down the stairs swiftly, right as a message flicked up on her HUD, making her take a sharp vent as she read it, her optics widening. The femme missed her next step and stumbled the rest of the way down the steps, very nearly falling flat on her faceplate.

"Lord Prime!" She practically shouted, hoping to catch the mech before he ran through the ground bridge after the rest of the Autobots.

A nano-second too late, the two-wheeler stared at the empty ring where the portal had been. She hissed and ran to the groundbridge controls, ignoring the humans' protests and queries. Punching in the coordinates the medical monitor that she had managed to sneak onto Skyquake eight vorns ago had given her, Terabyte's hand hovered over the lever for a split second as her processor whirled.

That mini monitor shouldn't have even been functioning still, and even if it had managed to stay functioning, there had been plenty of times previous that should have triggered it. And yet, there it was, flashing on her HUD, informing her that Skyquake was losing large quantities of life-En.

His optics had been emerald.

The synth-En that had Ratchet running off on a solo, Megatron-assassination mission had made the medic's optics glow that same emerald. She gasped, slamming the lever down with a new fear racing through her. Skyquake had gotten a hold of the untested synthetic Energon.

Primus only knew what the jet would have gotten himself into.

Forgetting about the humans completely, Terabyte ran through the green and violet portal, her weapons charging and battle protocols spinning to life as she emerged in the barren wasteland. Blast marks and ice patches scarred the landscape, attesting to the battle that had taken place. The burning stench of spilt life-En hovered in the plasma-charged air.

She ran towards the two forms she could see sitting off a little ways away, her engine choking as she stumbled to a halt a few feet away from them as she processed the horrors that greeted her optics. Her mask fell just as fast her armor went slack against her frame, her silver hands rising up to cover her open mouth.

Golden knee-joints gave out beneath her and she collapsed to her knees with a dull thud that seemed to echo through the very fabric of reality. Hot pink coolant gathered in her ruby optics as she gazed upon what the two closest friends she had had done. Her lips opened and closed as her vocalizer hissed with static, the words failing to form.

Skyquake and Cliffjumper rose and started to approach her when they heard her pede-falls, only for them to stop and avert their gazes in shame as they saw what had stopped her.

Blitzwing's grayed frame lay in a pool of stale, fading life-En, half of his armor shredded off and lying in shiny, confetti-like strips around his husk. One arm had been torn out of its socket, and the dents in its surface spoke of it being used as a club. The triple-changer's wings were mangled, pierced, and torn, and several obsidian daggers that she recognized instantly as Skyquake's jutted out of the panelling that any mech knew was a flier's greatest weakness.

The sheer amount of pointless, agonizing injuries that she could see even from here made her ill. The little femme's frame shook with a combination of grief that her own mechs could have done this and a deep, burning fury for the very same reason. Her frame shook so hard that her armor visibly and audibly rattled against her frame as she crouched there in the dust and life-En, unable to tear her optics away from the mutilated body.

Even in all her vorns with the Decepticons, she hadn't seen anything this despicable in a very long time. Granted, she had been sheltered. But most Decepticons bragged about numbers and size, not the actual torturing. Of course she knew that the interrogation cells were filled with horrible amounts of torure, but at least there was a reason. A goal that held more depth than pure amusement.

At least then there was something to show for the suffering.


	44. Shadows Within Us

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 44**

**Shadows Within Us**

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**Okay, so here's our Monday update for the week! It's even on time! ... Though just barely. **

**I want to give a huge hand of applause to my beloved enmused (feel free to check out her stories... amazing stuff) for being my loyal reader, sticking with me and reviewing even such a dark chapter in my characters' lives as Shadows Around Us was when all others left me... Anyhow! I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the end of this chapter!**

**Also, if it helps to have motivation... I'm greatly inspired by your input, and much less likely to be late in updating when I'm inspired!**

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_Movement beneath her helm jolted her back into the land of the processing, bringing her into an only slightly improved state of consciousness. She let out a contented sigh and her engine let out a short little purr as she shifted to get just a little comfier. Her pillow shifted again, making the little femme online her gold optics slowly._

_A green, red-accented, heavily armored forearm greeted her vision and she pulled herself upright in the hard chair beside the berth to look at the not-quite-awake fighter jet whose arm she'd used as a pillow. She glanced over at the recharging blue jet on the next berth over and lowered her mask when she deemed him thoroughly offline. _

_Several breems later, the little Prussian blue and black two-wheeler's gold bio-lights started to go dim as her helm began to droop back towards the mech's arm as exhaustion took its toll. Skyquake's huge hand slipped over the top of hers gently._

_"Hey, femme..." He muttered, looking up at her with concerned ruby optics. "How long've you been here?"_

_"S'long as you." _

_"Three orns... Tera, when's the last time you fueled? Or recharged properly? You look drained." Skyquake asked with worried tones, his vents heaving raggedly._

_She let out a deep sigh, shuttering her optics for a moment as she counted the rotations out in her bleary processors. She already knew that the answer she had wouldn't make him very happy with her. "'Bout the same..."_

_He squeezed her hand gently and shuttered his optics for several klicks, finally just venting loudly. His words signified that he'd decided just to let it go for the time being. "Sorry 'bout droppin' out on you like that... How'd you get me here?"_

_"I was overcome with a fear so great that my weight bearing capacity tripled so that I could carry you here all on my own, all hero-style." She teased, glancing out the plexi-glass window to make sure there were no medics coming in to perform some scan or other, "No, I... ah, persuaded Hook to space bridge you here after... gaining access to the Priority One channel..."_

_He grinned up at her, "You hacked the frequency and handed out death threats didn't you."_

_"That, my dear commander," She said playfully, poking him in the shoulder as a mock reprimand, "Is classified. Top secret intel."_

_"For a select few persons with the designation 'Terabyte'?" Skyquake replied with a knowing twinkle in his optics._

_"Precisely." She smiled, frowning slightly as she remembered the circumstances of his coming here to the KMECC. It didn't make sense. Why hadn't this happened before? Surely she would have noticed if he was in pain from any injuries his twin sustained. Surely, in all the time she'd known him, Dreadwing must have been injured on occasion... "If you always feel Dreadwing's pain when he's deployed and you aren't..."_

_The spy trailed off as her sensitive finials picked up the distinctive change in ventilation patterns as the mech slipped back off into a contented recharge. She regarded the green jet for a moment, a concerned gleam in her shining gold optics._

_"... Why haven't I ever noticed?"_

She could hear the mechs' tentatively nearing pedefalls, but still she refused to look up. She was afraid to look into their optics; afraid of what she might see if she did. So she sat there crying, angry, disappointed, and disgusted tears, making no move to stop their slow approach.

After about a klick, the femme felt Skyquake's EM field brush against her in a gentle way that conveyed comfort, regret, shame, apology, and a plea for reassurance. Shortly after, it was joined by Cliffjumper's, bearing much the same feel.

Terabyte's lip curled into a sneer and she rose slowly, keeping her helm down as she collected herself just enough to be taken seriously. She flared her armor and EM field outward in one harsh motion, hearing the two mechs back off at the wave of anger that she flung out at them.

"What in the name of the Allspark have you done?" She snarled, her voice low and quiet, her rage rising to a level far beyond shouting. She was past shouting at them. No, she would have yelled at them until their audios shattered if they'd only killed him. But this was so much more despicable. So much more evil than that.

To have _just killed_ the mech would have been a mercy compared to what they'd done.

They didn't reply, only bowed their helms lower, keeping their armor clamped down against their leaking frames in shame. Skyquake's wings were dipped lower than she'd ever seen them before, testifying the guilt he felt. But she was beyond pity for them.

"Have you nothing to say for yourselves?" She asked in the same low, quiet voice, the pink coolant streaking her bare faceplate, pooling in the jagged scar that ran from the left corner of her left optic down to her lip. "Do you have no excuse for this... this... savagery?"

"What we did here today was a level of evil worthy of Megatron himself." Skyquake answered, his vocalizer catching slightly on the words, seeming to wilt even more at his own words.

She hissed, gesturing at Blitzwing's frame. "To say the least." She whirled to lay her smoldering gaze on the red mech. "And you?"

"We weren't in our right minds..." Cliffjumper whispered, not daring to meet her glare. "The synth-En..."

She snorted derisively, a cold, humorless laugh working its way out of her vocalizer, her faceplates stiff with her indignation, "It's not your fault? Is that _seriously_ what you're going to go with for me, Cliffjumper? You weren't in your right mind?"

Terabyte glanced down at his silver, disfigured pede. The damage that she had caused while not in her right mind. She could practically taste the irony as his voice echoed in her helm. _Sure, I trust you. I trust you to keep betraying us, no matter how many times I put my spark on the line for you. You'll just keep blowing your chances. _

No words were needed to get her point across. Her armor fell slack again as she lost the will to rebuke them further. It was obvious that they were punishing themselves far more than she could. There was no point in berating them further, and besides that, the very irony that she had just reminded them all of left her with no right to accuse them.

She had been no better when Soundwave had manipulated her memories.

Had circumstances been different, she very likely would have done much the same to Cliffjumper, or Bumblebee, or both. She could have, would have, and nearly did. She had no right to be angry.

As she stood there, her optics dripping pink coolant as the tears began to flow freely once more, Terabyte didn't even care that her mask was down. That her face - far too expressive, like a window to her spark - was open for all to see, stained and streaked with coolant.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her gently, pulling her into a hesitant, somewhat-awkward brotherly hug. The little femme cringed slightly and went stiff in Cliffjumper's embrace, his harsh words from what was already a week ago still echoing loudly in her mind, now joined with the image of Blitzwing's tortured frame.

She was fairly confident that he wouldn't hurt her, and yet the fear remained. She'd only known him for a little over a human year. That was hardly six quartex. Hardly any time really, for beings who could live for three millenia and still be considered a youngster.

"TB, I..." Cliffjumper's voice was quiet and pained his vocalizer hissing static as he spoke, "Terabyte... I am so, _so _sorry..."

At her skeptical, cold stare, he rushed to continue, trying desperately to convey what he meant as he stepped away slightly, gesturing to Blitzwing's husk. "Not for this - I mean, yes I hate myself for having done... - but that's not what I'm apologizing for. I... I have no right to call myself your friend after what I said to you."

"I wasn't bothered." She said softly, her finial twitching emphatically at the blatant lie. She could feel Skyquake standing a little ways away, staring off at the crimson sunrise. "It's no big deal, really."

"Don't lie to me, Terabyte." The red mech bit out, growing agitated by her refusal to face things. His tone was not unkind, but his frustration was evident in it, "I don't apologize for being the two-bit malfunction that I am often enough for you to shrug it off with a lie to my face. Please, just let me finish."

Terabyte looked over her shoulder at the ground beside her, hugging her middle as if it would help her to hold herself together. She fiddled with the gold decorations on her miniature fusion cannon, allowing her silence to drag on into an invitation to continue.

"I have helped to do something so unforgivably dreadful, I don't know where to even begin redeeming myself. I don't know if I even can. All I can do is try, and I can start by acknowledging that right now," He gave her a sad little grin, fingering the insignia on his life-En splattered, scratched, and dented chest. "You are far more worthy of this than I have been for... probably far too long. I guess that happens when you've been fighting in the same bloody war for forty vorns."

Her ruby optics widened slightly at the number he'd given. That would put him at at least seventy vorns of age. Still nowhere near so old as Jetfire or Ratchet, or even the Prime, who was significantly younger than the medic and scientist. Not that even they were really old. After all, when a race was practically immortal, what was a few tens of millenia? She'd never have guessed that he and Skyquake were the same age though. He always acted so much younger.

The red mech laughed at her response, "I guess what I'm trying to say is-"

Behind them a ground bridge portal erupted into life, letting a group of mechs through. None of the trio turned to look at the newcomers, not even noticing their arrival.

"I know." She whispered, "... I know. It's alright."

Skyquake walked over, placing himself at her shoulder like he always did. She could feel him quivering with a rage he rarely ever showed. His deep bass rumbling from his engine, "No. No it's not. And no amount of _apologizing_ and _forgiving_ will fix this."

"You could not be more right, Skyquake. Nothing can fix what you and Cliffjumper have done today, and your punishment will be severe." Optimus said somberly, his tone laden with his disappointment and anger at their actions. The two mechs seemed to melt under the Prime's gaze. "However, your remorse is a good place to start on the path to redemption."

"What were you thinking?" Arcee whispered, staring at the gruesome sight before her optics.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee just stared on in silence, glancing every now and then at the two mechs that were responsible for the scene. Terabyte stared at her pointed black feet, her mask having snapped up over the pink streaks of coolant as soon as she noticed their company.

It had been a very long time since she'd fought beside Skyquake, or seen the damage he could deal out. Of course, she knew that he could kill, after all, she'd seen Prowl when the jet had finished with him. But he had made it quick then, and as painless as death by machine gun could be.

She had forgotten just how much Skyquake was capable of.

By the looks on the Autobots' faces, they had_ all_ forgotten just how much the two mechs were really capable of.

**Two Days Later**

Terabyte looked around at the other Autobots who were gathered together in the main chamber, each mech lounging in various positions.

"So..." Bulkhead trailed off, letting the single word hang in the empty atmosphere. "What are we gonna do with them?"

"We can't just leave them to rot in the brig for the rest of their lives." Arcee put in, her tone dark as she muttered, "As much as we may want to."

A light drumming of squishy fingers drew their optics down to where Miko was sitting with a bored and impatient expression. When the girl noticed their attention, she sprung to her feet and stepped into the center of the loose ring of bots. "I still don't get what the big deal is. When Bee _nearly_ took out the big green dude, you all cheered and congratulated him. Now Sky and Cliff take out this nut-case, who by the sounds of it had a pretty bad rep and a list of war crimes about a zillion miles long, and you've got 'em in the lock-up."

She went on, flinging her hands to emphasize her frustration. "It doesn't make sense. We're the good guys, he was the bad guy, so they blow him to kingdom come and we move on with the war. No big deal, right?"

Terabyte's optic ridges pulled together in distress. Miko was too young for this war. She didn't understand the value of life enough to see why this was so serious. "No, no, no, Miko... This isn't a good thing, and we aren't necessarily always the 'good guys'. In a war, there isn't always a good side or a bad side. Sometimes it just isn't that easy. The lines between right and wrong get blurry."

"Sometimes war makes very good people do horrible things and sometimes makes horrible people do very good things." Optimus concluded gravely, "We cannot dismiss the atrocities committed by a good mech merely on the grounds of their being of a certain faction. Whether done by Autobot or Decepticon, the crimes committed two days ago cannot be justified."

Miko looked down at her black, knee-high combat boots with a thoughtful expression. After a while she flopped down cross-legged beside Jack with a confused frown. She looked over at the older boy questioningly.

The midnight two-wheeler couldn't help but notice just how much the girl respected and looked up to Jack. He was like the Prime of the trio. The one they all looked up to.

"Life is sacred, Miko." The boy said quietly, sweeping his messy mop of black hair out of his face. An odd expression crossed his face, "Whether it be Autobot, or Decepticon; human, or Cybertronian. And what Cliffjumper and Skyquake did violated that sacred thing far beyond just taking Blitzwing's life."

At the lack of change in her confused expression, Jack went on, "It's like they took away his life _before_ they killed him."

Terabyte smiled sadly behind her midnight navy mask. That was a far better explanation than any of them could have given. It was so accurate it hurt.

She flared her field a little, brushing Arcee's comfortingly. The two-wheelers had stuck together pretty much ever since the two mechs had been put in the brig. Jetfire and Ratchet were in the med-bay dismantling and salvaging what few parts they could from Blitzwing's remains. Arcee had locked down after that sunrise, refusing to so much as wish any mech good cycle. Her dark muttering a breem ago was the first words she'd spoken since the incident.

**"So like Bulk asked, what're we gonna do with them?" **Bumblebee bleeped solemnly, flicking his doorwings at a despondent angle.

"For now, I believe the best course of action would be to keep Cliffjumper and Skyquake confined to the brig until we can be certain that the synthetic Energon has been completely purged from their systems." Optimus Prime said firmly, his optic ridges pressing into a stiff line parallel with the tight line of his lip-plates. "As far as their punishment is concerned, I am as of yet undecided... It has been many, many vorns since one of my mechs has committed a crime of this scale."

Terabyte massaged her neck gently with one hand, trying to work out the stiffness that had built up with her stress. She sighed deeply and looked down at Raf, who was leaning up against the light gray proto-plating of her abdomen. The boy turned around and looked up at her with a look of trust that made her tanks churn slightly at the responsibility.

She didn't deserve to be trusted or respected as much as this human's gaze showed that he did. He spoke quietly, "Everything's going to be alright now, right though? No one else is going to get hurt?"

The femme ran her glossa over her fangs as she tried to think of an honest way to answer that without hurting the boy. They were all so young... Far too young to be in this war. Like she had been, and by most standards still was. No child deserved to partake in war so early on. She wrapped an arm gently around the human boy in as much of a hug as she could give without hurting him.

"I'm sorry, Raf," Terabyte whispered back, her blood-red optics sorrowful, "But I can't promise you that... I don't think I will be able to for quite a while."

**Brig: Next Day, 1900 Hours.**

"Stupid!"

_Bang!_

"Slag-helm!"

_Bang!_

"Two-bit!"

_Bang!_

"Pit-spawn!"

Skyquake watched in silence from his position on the floor next to the berths as Cliffjumper shouted, emphasizing each self-depreciating insult with another dent in the steel wall. The red mech had been shouting and punching the wall ever since they got put in here three rotations ago. Honestly, the green jet was surprised that the mech hadn't run out of insults by now.

_Bang!_

"Monster!"

He went back to glaring at his own feet, his deep engine rumbling in distaste. His ruby optics were hard and beginning to dim. He needed to recharge, and he needed to refuel. There were four cubes of Energon stacked on top of each other on the table in the center of the cell. Terabyte had stopped bringing them once she'd decided that they weren't going to be ingested.

_Bang!_

"Despicable excuse for an Autobot... despicable excuse for a mech..." Cliffjumper trailed off brokenly, sliding down to sit on the floor next to where Skyquake had his pedes drawn up close to his frame, his helm resting in his hands.

Skyquake didn't say anything, just continued glaring at his feet. His wings ached from the way he was seated with them crushed against the steel wall. He didn't care. It didn't hurt enough.

Ratchet and Jetfire had insisted on repairing their injuries, so he couldn't even let himself suffer with his wounds until he either leaked out or his self-repair systems somehow managed to keep him alive.

He vented harshly, grinding the gears in his jaw angrily.

After several breems of silence, Cliffjumper said quietly, "That can't be very comfortable for your wings..."

"Hngh." Skyquake grunted in response, not shifting in any way.

"Uh... we've got Energon if you're hungry..." After another breem of gaping, screamingly empty stillness, the red mech sighed, "Yeah. Me neither."

Skyquake crossed his arms over his knees and laid his helm down with a sharp ex-vent. Every one of the insults the mech had been shouting were far too true. Yet, the combination of them all still fell short of how despicable he truly was. This was his fault.

If he'd just left the synth-En alone... just had that wonderful evening with Terabyte and left the red mech to hang from the ceiling... Just done everything a little better, with just a little more sense... If he'd only done what was necessary to prevent this. Just said no. Just a simple 'no' would have saved a mech's spark.

**A Week Later**

Optimus frowned at the two mechs who sat stoically on the berth, avoiding his gaze with limp armor and ashamed posturing, especially noticeable in Skyquake's wings.

"Are you aware of what you have done?" He demanded, his quiet voice not masking any of his disappointment. He had waited until now to visit the mechs in the brig on purpose. He had waited so that he would be able to mete out justice with a kind, unbiased hand. He had also waited so that the mechs had time to contemplate what they had done.

Because this time last week, he was still very partial to ripping off their wings and wheels and forcing them down their throats after pounding the living scrap out of them. Which the Matrix informed him would be rather un-Primely of a response.

So he had waited until now to pay his mechs a visit.

"Yes sir." They chorused dully, their optics dim and their tones empty.

The Prime frowned. That wasn't what he wanted from them. "Are you aware of what you have done?"

Skyquake looked up at him with blank ruby optics, "We have tortured a mech far beyond what is morally acceptable for no other reason than for our own entertainment, sir." The jet's large green wings twitched, "And then we physically tore his spark out, all while under the influence of an unstable compound that did no more than enhance our strength and dull our consciences."

Optimus held his expression impassive, allowing the green jet to go on, "The desire to kill, the ability to kill, and the amusement we derived from the torture of another living mech were not byproducts of the synthetic Energon which I obtained by illegal means, yet all three of those things were very present with us."

"And whose idea was this excursion?" The scarlet and cobalt Autobot leader questioned, already having a pretty good idea of who the instigator was.

Cliffjumper was a loose cannon in the Autobot army, whose sense of humor was both his strongest and weakest point. His offense and his defense. In many ways both a coping mechanism and an outlet for negative energy. While affected by the synthetic Energon, the red mech would have thought it an excellent scheme.

"The idea was mine."

The Prime's optics narrowed with minor surprise as he scrutinized the large defector who had spoken. He could see no indication that the mech was lying. He nodded minutely in acceptance and acknowledgement, meeting the mech's ruby optics a moment.

However, he looked over at Cliffjumper questioningly, noting the guilty flare of his armor, as well as the way he shuffled his pedes, refusing to meet his gaze for longer than an astrosecond. The Prime raised an optic ridge, "Cliffjumper, is this true?"

"Y-yes sir." The red mech replied quietly, staring at his silver foot, his optics tracing the way the tire jutted out, suspended in mid-air on the axle, the convoluted mess of gears, plating, and rudimentary mechanical cabling shining in the bright white light of the cell.

Optimus frowned at the disjointed, suspicious murmuring of the Matrix within him. He was interrogating the mech he had placed as the Autobots' official interrogator and he was lying to his face, and not doing a very good job of it either. They had not planned to deceive him, but the Matrix did not seem to agree when he considered calling them out on their deceit. He would confront Skyquake, but not now.

"You are aware of the repercussions of your actions?"

"Yes sir."

The Prime gestured for them to elaborate the punishments they saw necessary. Often he found that when dealing with good mechs with guilty consciences, they would provide a set of punishments that far exceeded justice, allowing him to modify as necessary.

"A major demotion, definitely." Cliffjumper said instantly.

Skyquake's face looked pained, "Likely permanent status as prisoner of war. Severely limited freedom."

"At least a quartex brig-time, plus any menial labor necessary."

"Locked weapons systems and subspace, no flight-time and wing cuffs at all times, regular processor scans."

"Removal from active field duty."

A twitch of remembered agony as Skyquake said firmly, "Public beating... At least fifty lashes... Might get to keep our preliminary armor and if you're generous, you won't target the wings."

A tiny gasp from behind them made the Prime and the two offenders look around the corner with curiosity. Terabyte stood there shaking slightly, her open faceplate slack, scarlet optics wide. Her dainty lips trembled and red bio-lights were pulsing sporadically.

"Y-you..." She trailed off for a moment, "You make fifty lashes with only prelim-armor sound... like a mercy..."

Optimus' jaw went tight with a new anger at Skyquake's nonchalant shrug, the jet muttered, "It would be. The Decepticons don't consider a beating proper 'till the life-En soaks the ground and the mech is no longer physically able to hold himself upright."

Skyquake went on, primarily oblivious to the little femme's growing horror. "If the one getting beaten is a winger, the beating is all the more enjoyable for the one dealing the punishment, as the mech's back and wings have five times the sensitivity. I've taken plenty enough to know."

The Prime frowned with concern as he stepped aside to let the now-crying femme in. She came in and pressed her scarred and coolant-streaked face into the green jet's upper abdomen, for that's where she could reach. Skyquake's huge hand rubbed her back soothingly, his engine letting out a low, calming hum.

Cliffjumper and Optimus just stood there, staring at the floor as they used a private comm-line. _/He's asking for ten more than the maximum lashes and calling it benevolence. Prime, this is wrong./_

"You took half of those beatings for me, didn't you? To keep me unaware of the truth..." Terabyte whispered reproachfully, bitterness coating her voice.

"Duty called for it, Terabyte..." Skyquake whispered back, "And I'd do it a million times over again to spare you that experience."

_/My brother has not stopped seeking the purest evil for millenia./ _Optimus replied gravely, his spark twinging painfully at the reminder of the shattered bonds. _/I fear he has drawn even closer to his goal than I had imagined./_

"But... I hurt you... so, so much, without even realizing it." The Protihexian femme sobbed brokenly, "Every time I did something wrong, you paid the price... It's my fault. Why didn't you tell me you were taking my punishments? I would have taken them!"

The jet touched the back of his hand to her face, tracing her scar with his knuckle, "I know, Terabyte, I know... But they would have broken you, and I couldn't let that happen."

Optimus hummed, recalling having the same talk with Elita-1, before they were bonded. He had taken a cannon blast in the spark for her, and she had tried to convince him he shouldn't have. He'd said almost the exact same words to her.

The sound that he'd made reminded the two defectors of their company and their setting and Terabyte went a little stiffer in Skyquake's embrace, stepping aside and raising her helm with her usual formality, though surprisingly her mask didn't snap back into place.

He studied her carefully for a moment, noting the beauty of her features, the deep, ragged scar doing little to mar her features. Perhaps her mask being lowered was a sign that she was beginning to trust them beyond just her physical well-being. Or perhaps she simply hadn't realized that it was still down.

Either way, it was an improvement that made his spark swell with encouragement.

Skyquake put a hand on her shoulder in a casually comforting manner, looking at the Prime as if daring him to criticize what the Decepticons had likely beat him into thinking was a weakness.

"Terabyte... you shouldn't be here right now... the Prime is deciding our fate, and it would be best that you not interfere, lest you be brought into my punishment."

"What?!" Cliffjumper exclaimed indignantly, glancing over at his Prime for back-up, "You think we would hurt _her_ just to punish you? What would it be a punishment for?"

"Weakness."

Optimus shuddered his optics for a moment, pressing his servos to his temples. "Love is not a weakness, Skyquake; it is a vulnerability, yes, but it is not a weakness. Without it, we have nothing to fight for, no cause to pursue." He pushed away the image of the broken, devastated frame of Blitzwing from his mind, "It is something that we all could use a little more of in this war."

"I have made a decision regarding the extent of your punishments, and we will convene on the matter in the morning." He said regally, turning to leave the cell. Before he left, he looked back in at the three bots, "Until then, good cycle."

She watched the Prime's retreating back, then looked up at the two mechs whose judgement apparently just been decided. Biting her lower lip briefly, Terabyte turned to follow, faintly hoping that one of them would say something to prevent her.

"How do you deal with it?"

She stared into the red mech's desperately pleading optics, knowing her mask was down and not really being much bothered by that knowledge. These mechs needed to know they were still trusted, still loved, and still counted as family.

It was a level of trust that Terabyte was not entirely sure she was ready to display yet. But it was also a level of trust that Cliffjumper and Skyquake both needed right now.

"With what? The guilt?" She asked -just to confirm. She vented deeply, frowning down at her gold-jointed pedes, contemplating the full depth of such a plea.

A pained expression worked its way onto her face as she considered all the things that plagued her recharge and kept her awake and shivering at night. As she pictured all the faces she watched fade. She averted her gaze, tossing it to the floor, her optics running over the mech's mutilated pede, making her spark jerk in its chamber.

Pink coolant began to form again in her scarlet optics. "I don't know: you tell me."

Cliffjumper looked down, his expression verging on dispair. His broken tone summed up how he felt far more than any words could. "Oh... right."

Skyquake gave her another quick hug and smiled down at her sadly, wiping the coolant from her cheeks with his thumb. "Go get some fuel and some rest, Terabyte. I get a feeling we'll all need it."

The femme frowned, flicking her mask back into place and exiting the brig with steady pede-falls, trying to act as though she hadn't lost her composure. She did need to refuel, so the little femme spun on her heel and turned the corner she'd nearly walked past.

Stepping into the doorway, Terabyte slowed to a halt, her skilled pede-falls making no noise on the concrete as she turned and left. She didn't feel like company just now, so the large olive ex-Wrecker never even knew she'd come.

Refueling could wait a while longer. She'd go for a little walk instead. Get some fresh air.

The two-wheeler silently made her way to the bridge room and found it pleasantly vacant. Ratchet and Jetfire's silhouettes could be seen in the med-bay, still trying to salvage parts and materials from Blitzwing's body. She smiled behind her mask and got halfway through the tunnel to the surface when a voice called her name.

"Terabyte!"

She turned and nodded respectfully to the older femme, keeping her armor flared as always. She held her scarlet gaze to the floor, awaiting the scolding for trying to leave without an escort. When a klick passed in silence, she looked up, her expression questioning.

"Getting a vent of fresh air?" Arcee asked quietly, her voice husky.

"Yes ma'am." Terabyte responded, spreading her finials a little wider to take in the senses that wafted in from the open tunnel doors, tantalizing her with promises of taking her processors away. Away from everything.

"Arcee is fine." The other femme said instantly, staring blankly out towards the cool outdoors. "Mind if I join you?"

Terabyte shrugged a shoulder wheel noncommittally, flaring her armor out briefly as she heaved a deep vent of emotional exhaustion, "By order of Autobot law and rank, I have no right to deny your request. Do you have any place in particular you would like to go, or may I go on as intended?"

The Autobot second in command smirked wryly, "You don't have to sound so pleased... No, I'm the tag-along here, go wherever you want."

"Within reason." She added, glancing back at Arcee with an amused twinkle in her optics.

"Within reason."

Transforming, the ex-spy sped off with Arcee by her side and headed straight for the one spot she knew would be the most comforting. She drove in silence with her holoform activated for any humans, her engine purring as the road sped beneath her tires at over a hundred miles an hour. Child's speeds, but the humans' lives were so fragile -she didn't blame them for driving slow.

She skidded to a stop with a spray of dust and fallen evergreen needles at the edge of a redwood forest, the dim moonlight shining through the organic branches, giving the majestically huge trees a surreal look.

She flipped back up into bi-pedal mode and looked through the trees with a smile spreading over her masked face, walking through the forest easily, her pedes carrying her over roots and dips in the soil as if she'd lived here all her life. Every now and then, Terabyte glanced over her shoulder to make sure the other femme was fine. Of course, the warrior-femme was more than able, and soon she stopped checking.

Several breems later, she stopped abruptly in a clear area that she judged to be the center of the forest and crouched down in the very middle of the glade, resting her elbows on her suspended knees.

Terabyte shuttered her optics and spread out her finials to their full extent, allowing them to absorb the maximum input. She sighed contentedly smelling the damp forest, taking in the sounds of the crickets chirping, the owls hunting, the scrabbling of rodents, the soft rustle of the wind through the trees, the gentle whirr of her own and Arcee's systems.

For just a moment she could smell the jade, the diamond roses. She could see the bright triple moonshine streaming through the tall jade trees, she could feel the wild turbo-foxes curled up beside her, the mercury creek bubbling lazily over the golden pebbles, smell the distant, famed Protihexian silver factory. She could even, for just an astrosecond, hear her carrier and sire calling her name as they came looking for her in her quiet place.

"Beautiful place..." Arcee breathed, unknowingly shattering the peace and comfort she gathered from the memories. "How did you know about this?"

"I just did." She said quietly, her voice betraying an underlying sorrow that seeped into the peaceful atmosphere.

The other femme sat down beside her, pulling her pedes up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. For a while they sat in a companionable, thought-laden silence.

Terabyte looked up at the beautiful canopy overhead, watching as a barn owl swooped across the glade, disappearing through the branches, its shrill cry piercing the night.

Finally, the older two-wheeler asked exactly the same question Cliffjumper had not even a groon ago, "How do you deal with it?"

She gazed out into the dark woods sadly, her optics open, but unseeing. Terabyte echoed her previous words, "With what?"

"The loss. Of family, friends, loved ones." Arcee's engine hitched, "How do you deal with it?'

The ex-Con choked slightly, swallowing the painful jolt of her spark. She let out an icy cold, agonizingly humorless laugh, "Well, experience doesn't make it any easier."

"Nor does time." They finished in perfect sync.

The two femmes sighed together and sat in silence in the black of night, neither one wanting to disturb the solemn, peaceful void as they simply allowed their surroundings to absorb their attention, pulling their minds away from the even blacker void that was their minds and sparks.


	45. Trials in Judgement

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 45**

**Trials in Judgement**

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**Technically, somewhere else in the world, it is still Monday, so that counts, right?**

**Disclaimer: You all should know by now... but I do not - sadly - own the Transformers in any way, shape, or form. I only own my OCs and my plot-lines. My plot lines do not include anything shown in the Transformers: Prime episodes, though as I'm sure you've noticed, I use them and adapt them to fit TB's story.**

**As for my late update: The excuses are the norm. School got in the way of typing, then my computer decided to randomly delete half the chapter, then the chapter turned out to be waaaaayyy too long, so I had to cut in half, then I was sick, and... well, yeah. You get the point... **

**On to the story!**

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_She sighed deeply, rolled her shoulder wheels roughly, and popped her neck struts into alignment. Her fingers flew swiftly over the many glyphs of her terminal, adding encryptions on the high-ranks' reports before filing each one in its proper place. She sighed again, finishing the file she was working on and leaning back in her chair._

_Five orns she'd been working on this. The femme vented and streched her spinal struts again, minimizing the long list of reports still waiting to be processed and checking for any new memorandums, important orders, or prioritized tasks. A rather substantial, heavily encrypted Autobot transmission had just come in with orders to decode it as quickly as possible. _

_The spy grinned and swivelled her finials, leaning forward excitedly in her seat. Finally something worth her while._

_Four joors later she glared at the final encryption on the transmission that was significantly better programmed than the rest of the code. It was riddled with reduncancies that made the pattern itself nigh on indecipherable to most programmers. _

_She cocked her helm for a moment before it seemed to click perfectly into place in her processors. Her yellow optics went wide as she set to madly clicking in glyphs at a frenzied pace, exclaiming, "Oh... Oh! __**Oh**__! Yes!"_

_A couple of the Vehicons stationed by her glanced over at her with bemused expressions. The oldest of them, smirked knowingly, drawling, "I take it you hacked the code?"_

_The Prussian blue and black femme stood up swiftly, slapping her hands on her desk with a victorious air punch, replying smugly, "Yes, yes I did." _

_She whirled around with the datapad containing the level one priority message from the Prime in hand, giving a start as she very nearly crashed into a slightly larger-than-normal Vehicon holding a cube of Energon in his claws._

_"I brought you Energon, Major." Voltage said quickly, extending the minorly off-color Energon. At her askance glance at the cube, the Vehicon grinned, baring his sharp fangs. "I took the liberty of putting a pump of sweet-En in it, along with silver flecks... I figured you hadn't refuelled since the last time I came by. By the way, Makeshift said to let you know that 'the Wave' is angry... whatever that means."_

_She smiled at the mech's consistent thoughtfulness. Honestly, she'd probably in med-bay for aEnergon deprivation on an ornly basis if it weren't for him, Skyquake, and Nightracer either bringing her Energon or dragging her off to the mess-hall. Between the three of them though, she mostly stayed fuelled. _

_She just didn't have time to take away from her work for such mundane things as fuelling and recharging. _

_"Aren't we fancy today?" The femme commented after taking a slow sip of the specially mixed Energon. "Tastes amazing, Voltage, thank you."_

_Tossing the Vehicon another unseen grin, the masked spy strode towards the CI head's office with a confident tilt to her helm, downing half the silver-sweet Energon in a single gulp before flinging the door open with a dramatic flare._

_"I have that transmission decoded like you asked, sir," She told Soundwave crisply, passing him the datapad. When he took it, she waited long enough for her boss to read the transmission before adding, "Also, I traced it to its source... Actually a mech, not a base, which is part of why I was delayed in bringing it to you, seeing as the source's mobility threw off the calculations. He goes by the name 'Blaster', and appears to be a relatively new recruit. He most likely had no idea what his own transmission said."_

_She didn't mention that she'd only traced it because she had gotten bored half-way through decoding it. After all, having it traced was a very good thing. And by the contents of this transmission, which declared the exact coordinates of the Autobot's center of operations where they were building what they called 'The Ark', this success may very well earn her a promotion in the near future._

_"Very good..." Soundwave drawled in Megatron's voice, "Yes... very good." He read through the transmission again, before waving a hand curtly to signify her dismal. _

_Bowing lightly, Terabyte spun on her heel and left the tidy office swiftly, a smug smirk resting on her masked face-plates. If she wasn't mistaken, she had just made the 'Wave's day._

Skyquake sat in stony silence, just waiting for the call to judgement.

Beside him, Cliffjumper had been sitting in stoic vigil with him, neither mech having moved from where they had returned to sitting against the wall on the floor beside the berth. However, at around midnight, the red mech had fallen into recharge and was now slumped against the green jet's shoulder, growling every now and then in disturbed sleep.

He glared at the Autobot warrior as the mech shifted, pressing into his spiked shoulder with a whimper of his engine. He sighed deeply, his ruby optics narrowing. About a million times already he had considered simply shoving the other mech off to recharge against the floor.

And yet, he hadn't.

Skyquake huffed, twitching his wing that the other mech was crushing against the wall to no avail. Finally, he growled and pushed the red mech so that he was seated upright. And for a grand total of half a klick, he stayed put before sliding back down to rest his horned helm on the jet's shoulder.

He checked his chronometer. 0440. The jet gave another long-suffering sigh, resigning himself to this being but a small part of his punishment. He hadn't recharged all night; a couple more groons wouldn't kill him.

Pulling out an obsidian puzzle box from his subspace, Skyquake fiddled with it absent-mindedly. Terabyte would laugh at his futile attempts to open the intricate little multi-faceted figure. She had given it to him vorns ago, just a short while before he had left for Earth. She told him it had something special in it for him.

He had tried for groons after she'd given it to him, staying up all the night cycle long trying to open it. After coming to Earth, he spent much of his waking quartex studying the intricate glyphs that described precious memories of their time knowing each other, from the rotation they met to the rotation she'd given it to him. He'd tried opening it, again and again, whiling away the joors.

Yes, she would laugh at him. His inability to open her gift would amuse her to no end, and finally he would ask her to show him how to open it and she would unlock it in astroseconds, the merry twinkle in her optics mocking his vorns of effort.

But by now, he had grown to consider the glyphs perfectly carved into the small obsidian facet more important than the contents. The time and peace that reading it and playing with it had given him in the long orns of isolation had been a leading factor to his remaining sane.

He smiled softly at the intricate puzzle, tracing his thumb over each glyph that he knew by spark, allowing the warm memories inscribed to chase away the cold orns of solitude from his thoughts.

He awoke with a start to the sound of a sparkling, twinkling laughter that ran over his audials like the sweetest music. Skyquake frowned minutely, checking his chronometer, which informed him that a joor had passed and it was now nearly 0900.

He hadn't intended on recharging. In fact, he hadn't even felt himself slip into it. But apparently he had fallen asleep, since a joor just passed without his knowledge. His audials focused in on the sweet laughter filling the cell, his growing alertness bringing him more aware to his surroundings.

Surroundings that included Cliffjumper still leaning against his shoulder and Terabyte sitting on the corner of the berth just above him. Surroundings that also included a very much still-locked obsidian gift in his hands. A still-locked obsidian gift that had been given to him a bit over seven vorns ago by the very femme whose amused laughter had woken him.

Ruby optics opened slowly as Skyquake gave Terabyte a drowsy, sheepish smirk. Which of course only made her giggle more.

"Morning." He rumbled, her contagious giggling beginning to pull his smirk a little wider. "Have you just come to laugh at me?"

"Perhaps." She replied cheekily, nudging his shoulder with her pointy black foot. Her optics gleamed with the merriment that he'd known they would, her tone suggesting that she was only just restraining her laughter. "I see my present has kept you busy over the vorns... Ever gotten it open yet?"

He gave her a playfully dark look before grinning widely, unable to even feign displeasure with her for any amount of time, "Nope."

Terabyte seemed just a tiny bit disappointed that he'd never found out what she'd given him, but at the same time, the knowledge seemed to delight her. He knew she could see just how much it had grown to mean to him over the vorns and how much of an anchor it had been to him. She grinned back down at him.

"Good." At his confused expression, the little femme elaborated, "Now I'll get to see your face whenever you do manage to open it."

He smirked, pulling on a pouty face, "You mean you aren't going to help me open it?"

"Nope!" She replied cheerily, laughing again, "Not yet, anyhow."

"Maybe in another seven vorns?" He asked wryly, already hearing her reply in his helm as he turned his attention back to the deep purplish-black box.

She hummed, chirping, "Maybe."

After a while of watching him fiddle with it, Terabyte said slyly, "Y'know, it's kinda cute the way you put up with Cliff 'charging on you." She paused for a moment to stare at the red mech recharging on his shoulder, smirking in a way that made Skyquake's optics narrow as she went on, "You do realize that he's been drooling fluids on you, right?"

"What?!" He roared, looking down at his arm indignantly, disgust writing itself on his features as his optics locked onto the trail of condensate mixed with lubricant that had run down his arm without his noticing.

At Terabyte's snickering, Skyquake growled, "It's not funny!"

Of course, that only made her laugh more, giving him another friendly kick in the shoulder.

"Is too." She retorted, her shoulder wheels shaking with mirth. He smiled softly as he realized that her armor was completely relaxed, lying at a more natural angle against her small frame. "For all that you two pretend to despise each other and try to kill each other, Cliff trusts you. And I think you do too."

His lip curled upwards at the idea, turning his gaze to scrutinize the annoying, leaking glitch, "Trust? Me, trust this arrogant walking malfunction? Very funny, Terabyte."

She grinned, shoving his helm in mock annoyance, "Seriously, though, just look at the mech. Does he look even the least bit concerned?"

Skyquake glared at him shrugging his wings and shoulders with a noncommittal grunt, purposefully disturbing the mech, making him shift to get comfortable again. "Meh."

Terabyte just beamed down at him, pulling three fresh cubes of Energon from her subspace, each one a different size to fuel the mech intended. She handed him the largest one. "Anyway, I brought us breakfast."

A rustling of metal alerted them both to Cliffjumper's waking, but Skyquake noticed with a growing warmth in his spark that Terabyte didn't tense up like she normally would have, and her armor only flared back out half as far as she normally kept it. Perhaps he wasn't the only one who was beginning to dare trust.

"Errrrghl." The red mech groaned, his sky blue optics opening blearily.

Skyquake watched with a small level of amusement as the Autobot came to, his face-plates clearly displaying the mech's gradual return to consciousness. The sky blue optics were dull with contentedness for an astrosecond longer before the warrior seemed to realize just who he was leaned up against, his optics brightening and widening as the mech bolted upright with a priceless expression of shock, horror, and disgust, along with a touch of confusion.

"Errrrrgh." Cliffjumper repeated, wiping his face with one hand, groaning now in dismay, "That's messed up on so many levels... It's too early for this.

"Actually, it's 0925." Terabyte piped in helpfully, adding, "I brought breakfast."

Skyquake passed the mech his cube of Energon, glaring at him. "You got fluids on me."

"Shove me off next time I pass out on you then." The red mech retorted, cocking an optic ridge and the little femme's light mood.

"I wouldn't have to shove you off if you hadn't have passed out on me in the first place."

Terabyte sat on the edge of the berth sipping her Energon to hide her smirk. She wasn't entirely sure why she was in such a good mood, given recent events and the events planned for later this day. For now she would blame it on her need to recharge. And the fact that she'd decided to eat a few of the silver drops Ratchet had given her for her sparking day.

She told herself she'd only eat one... By the fact that she only had five left out of ten, she figured that that maybe hadn't happened though. So she was both exhausted and had candy running through her systems. She would calm down soon enough; most likely at the sight of the Prime, but for now she would enjoy it.

She giggled quietly at the two mechs' arguing, choosing to put in her portion, "Would now be a bad time to mention that you guys both had this perfectly at peace expressions when I came in and found you both asleep?"

"Yes!" They both growled in perfect unison, making her grin wider. Skyquake tossed her an annoyed look, "Not funny..."

"_I _think it's hilarious." The little two-wheeler replied smugly, shrugging, "Also, I think you guys owe me some gratitude. After all, I could have just left you both like that for another joor... You should be especially grateful, Sky, Cliff might just have rusted a hole through your arm by the time you bolt-helms came to."

Cliffjumper snickered at that, seeming to shrug off his annoyance. "So, what's got you so cheery, Short Stuff?"

"Don't call me that, Little Mech." She grinned wider as he looked shocked that she knew Skyquake's nickname for him. Of course she knew. Best friends share all. "As for my mood, I really haven't got a clue..."

"Too many silver drops and a need for sleep, probably." Skyquake said with a shrug.

She laughed, "You know me all too well."

He cocked an optic ridge at her, his ruby optics gleaming, "Always."

The femme was about to come back with more teasing when her private comm. pinged internally. Her optic ridges twitched downwards in mild concern before furrowing in minute fear when she saw who it was. Her spark pulsed a little faster, her scarlet optics dimming as she answered the comm.

_/Yes, lord Prime?/ _She bit her lip and quickly amended before he could rebuke her yet again, _/My apologies, sir... I truly am trying... The habit is deeply ingrained./_

_/I understand, Terabyte./ _His glyphs depicted a consoling tone, underlined with sadness that she still feared him as she did. _/I merely called to check in on Skyquake and Cliffjumper... I assume you are in the brig?/_

Her frown deepened and at the two mechs' concerned and curious gazes, she turned her back partially to them to gain a little more privacy in her conversation. She sighed; it wasn't as if the Prime didn't have a feed to his HUD continually informing him of her location due to the tracker still embedded under her protoform, anchored on her spinal struts.

She supposed the Autobot must have thought it courteous to enquire.

_/Affirmative./_

_/Good./ _The mech on the other side of the line seemed to hesitate, his glyphs appearing more slowly onto her HUD, _/How... How are they faring?/_

Flicking her finials, it took a notable effort not to glance over at the two mechs in question. A muted clicking brought a small upward tilt to her lips as Skyquake continued to work with the intricate obsidian puzzle. _/I believe my presence has aided in lightening their spirits./_

Detecting in her tone that she was leaving something off, the Prime prompted her to continue, _/... And?/_

The femme shifted her armor, having flared it back out all the way when the comm. had first come through. Her left finial gave a tell-tale backwards twitch as she replied tersely, _/I don't believe now to be an appropriate time to answer that query, Prime./_

Silence and emptiness drug on for nearly a klick, the continual buzzing in her helm being the only indication that he hadn't cut off the connection. Her spark pounded against its casing and her vents came a little quicker. The only reason her fans didn't kick on was because she'd shut them off.

_/Understood.../ _He paused for a moment, and she knew instantly that the Matrix-bearer had seen straight through her, yet he didn't mention it. Instead he finished cautiously, _/I trust your judgement, Terabyte. Please bring Cliffjumper and Skyquake to the conference hall as soon as you are able./_

_/Yes, sir. We will be there within the breem./ _

_/Thank you, Terabyte. Optimus out./ _

"Was that Optimus?" Cliffjumper asked as soon as she'd turned to face them with brightened optics again.

Terabyte nodded slowly, giving the red mech a weird look, "How did you know?"

He looked down, shrugging a shoulder and smiling a cheerless little smile, "You were terrified from the minute he commed you. And I figured, Prime's the only one you're still scared of."

She hopped down from the berth and downed her Energon with an annoyed quirk to her lip-plates, making her snap the mask up to hide her displeasure. She muttered sourly, "Well. Glad to know I'm so utterly transparent."

Of course, she knew she was perfectly transparent when her mask was down. That was why she had the mask to start with. Her face was too expressive for her own good.

"Finish your Energon and let's go." The ex-Con said curtly, her happy, relaxed mood wiped from her. "The Prime is expecting us in half a breem in the main conference hall."

She looked around at the half circle of Autobots, each seated with stiff posture and even stiffer expressions as they glared at the two mechs standing a few paces behind the empty podium. Their helms were down; their hands locked in limited-mobility stasis cuffs. Skyquake's wings were tilted down in a way that made her back hurt just to think about it.

Terabyte held her visible expression neutral, but under her mask her anxiety would have been more than obvious. As it were, her armor had without her knowledge pressed itself tightly against her protoform, making her seem tiny and terrified where she sat at the end of the crescent table, clasping her hands firmly in her lap.

The three humans each sat cross-legged on the table in front of their guardians, looking a little nervous under the tension that filled the air.

Ratchet sat far across from Terabyte, glaring at the table, refusing to look up at anyone. He seemed annoyed that he was not being judged for his actions under the synth-En as well.

"Let us begin." Optimus said quietly, though his voice seemed to echo in the silence. "Here stand Lieutenant Cliffjumper and Defector Skyquake; accused of theft, endangering their team and cause, insubordination, abandoning base to attack the enemy without leave, the inhumane torturing of another Cybertronian, and first degree murder. Speak now in your defense if you will."

Cliffjumper and Skyquake both let out a synchronized sigh, but neither made any move to defend their actions. There wasn't really a way to deny that they had done these things, nor did they have any desire to if there were.

The Prime gave them a good half a breem to raise their defense before accepting that none would come. "So be it. Portrayed on the datapads before each of you are the eyewitness accounts and medical reports regarding the incident. As friend of the accused, superior officer in charge of the accused, and Prime, I hereby declare both of the accused guilty of all charges. Cliffjumper, if you would step up to the podium?"

She glanced down at the datapad, quickly looking away when she saw that the medical reports were primarily visual. A slight shiver ran down her struts, making her shutter her optics in an attempt to close out the images.

"I object." Ratchet said firmly, still glowering down at the table. The medic went on, his tone bitter, "I object to my not being included in this trial for my own transgressions."

"Old friend, no long-lasting harm came of your actions, and your judgement was-"

"My judgement was just as impaired as theirs! Yet they are sentenced, while I get no more than a friendly suggestion and well wishes!" The medic roared, rising from his seat in anger. "If no one else will press charges, then I will myself! It is neither fair, nor _right_ for you to leave me unpunished."

"Ratchet, old friend," Optimus started, though the medic never let him finish.

Turquoise optics blaring with a challenge to try and stop him, Ratchet said formally, stepping behind the podium, shoving a confused Cliffjumper out of the way in the process. "I, Ratchet, chief medical officer of the Autobot army, charge myself - the accused - of illegal experimentation of potentially dangerous substances, torturing another Cybertronian for personal gain, insubordination, assaulting a superior officer, attacking the enemy without leave, and endangering the lives of members of this team." He paused for a moment, daring any to deny his charges before continuing. "With no defense or objections to be given, I declare myself guilty of all charges to be sentenced without bias as my Prime deems just."

Now the medic's hands gripped the edges of the podium, awaiting with visible trepidation, but no regret, his judgement.

Optimus Prime sighed harshly, his lip-plates tight with resignation. There was no way to argue with his medic. His point was valid in all regards, and it truly was unjust to judge the wrong doings of two and then waive the wrong doings of another.

"The charges given are not able to objected. Ratchet, chief medical officer of the Autobots, I must sentence you, at your own request, to on-base activities only. Your duties will be restricted to medical applications, and all further scientific research on the synthetic Energon will be passed into Scientist Jetfire's care." The large red and blue mech vented, "Please take your seat now, doctor."

Terabyte's expression remained outwardly impassive throughout the whole exchange, but beneath the safety of her mask, confusion was spread over her face. The sentence was so mild, yet the medic seemed devastated. Was the confession all the medic had really wanted? Perhaps just telling them all in an official setting was punishment enough in itself.

"Cliffjumper, if you would return to the podium." The Prime's regal tone now held no room for interruption, and his expression clearly showed his desire to be done with the trials. "For the afore stated crimes, how do you plea?"

The red mech didn't look up from where he stood defeated, staring at the podium that his servos unconsciously trailed over, following every line in the worn steel surface. His sky blue optics were slightly dimmed, indicating that he was not really seeing as he said with determination, "Guilty."

A tense hush fell over the already quiet room as each mech processed this. They had been expecting some sort of at least acknowledgement for record's sake that they were negatively influenced by experimental drugs. They had not been prepared for the unopposed acceptance of guilt.

Normally Cliffjumper wasn't one to just lie down and admit that maybe he was wrong.

She however knew better than to expect that. She knew what they felt like... to a point anyway. And she understood that nothing in this galaxy or the next would bring them to defend their actions. If the Prime's judgement of her actions was anything to go by, both mechs knew full well that even embracing punishment, they would feel inadequately reproved.

"Very well." Optimus said with a slight inclining of his helm. "As your Prime, I must sentence you fairly and in accordance to the crimes committed. For being an accomplice in theft, you will work willing for two quartex of menial labor. For showing yourself irresponsible and untrustworthy in the position you have been given, you will be demoted to the rank of foot-soldier. Your brig duties will be passed on to Lieutenant Terabyte, who by record is well experienced in this field."

Terabyte cringed unwillingly at his last statement, shrinking even deeper into her seat. Her protoform was beginning to dully hurt in protest to how tightly she held her armor, making her shake herself minutely and flare it out defensively. She didn't like the way the Prime was judging the red mech.

She didn't like the stiff, hard, impassiveness of the Prime's tone, or the way his optics were clouded over with an emotion she couldn't identify. She didn't like the over-composed posturing the scarlet and cobalt Matrix-bearer wore, or the way his EM field flared in agitation.

It scared her.

The femme had no way of knowing that the Prime's appearance was only a display of how he disliked punishing the mechs he called family. So she saw only anger, and anger in a mech with his power and strength could only mean bad things for her.

And she didn't like that he was making it seem like she was being promoted for their crimes.

"For torturing a fellow Cybertronian unto the termination of his life force, you will be placed under constant surveillance and will be duly punished if found unaccompanied at any time. You will be confined to base until I deem no longer necessary and will be permitted three breems of outdoor time each week and will be escorted and physically restrained for the duration of the excursions. You will also be given twenty lashes as immediate punishment for this crime."

The Prime took another deep vent, glancing at the navy and black ex-spy's frightened and indignant expression with a disturbed look in his clear blue optics. His gaze seemed to pierce through her being as he looked directly into her own scarlet optics, asking, "Before proceeding, are there any objections to the judgements thus far?"

She gave her finials a self-composing flick before standing slowly, raising a hand like she used to when she was in school so long ago. Her obstinately flared armor trembled faintly, though aside from that her expression and posture showed even less than her carefully monitored voice, "If I may, Prime, I... I object to the increase in my duties that you wish to impose as a result of Cliffjumper's demotion."

There was no reason to be afraid of the Prime. He was a good mech and he had been nothing but kind and fair with her. There was no reason to fear him. Yet the atmosphere in the conference room seemed to weigh down on her with a tension that simply demanded fear's presence.

"Please explain." Optimus replied, his tone softening just enough to be noticeable.

"I am a defector, my Prime." Terabyte said bluntly, as though that was explanation enough. When the Prime's expression failed to show enlightenment, she went on carefully, gaining confidence from the lack of reprimand, "By increasing my duties, it is as though I am being rewarded for their wrongs. It is as though I am being promoted for no merit on my part, merely because Cliffjumper is being demoted. I do not deserve such a promotion at this time, nor is it fair or tactically wise to receive it."

She scowled, the heat of her frustration beginning to touch her tone. "As of yet, I remain a liability and a security risk to the Autobots as a whole, and to add to my responsibilities would be foolish."

Arcee, seated to the Prime's right, winced at her harsh declaration, making a flash of worry seep back into Terabyte's spark. She turned her gaze to her pedes, trembling just a little bit more. Her words could easily be taken to mean that she thought that the great Prime was a fool. Too easily for comfort.

That was a very... foolishly worded sentence.

"At ease, Terabyte." The Prime said gently, making her look up into his optics that now showed a minute amount of amusement. "This is not your trial, and you are not being judged."

She forced her frame to lose some of the tension it had gained, thought her armor remained puffed out. She was by no means at ease, and no command to be at ease would change that. But she had been Soundwave's right hand spy for a reason.

Over the vorns, she had become very, very good at acting.

"Your objections have been noted, and they will be mentioned in the records," Her optics narrowed slightly and her jaw went stiff as she detected a distinct stubborness in his tone. "However, I do not believe my decision to be as foolish as you would believe, and my distribution of responsibilities is my prerogative as Prime."

A light, rare smile touched the Autobot leader's face as he noticed her plainly shown displeasure, "If it would assuage your fears, I will take full responsibility for any ill effects this decision may bring."

"I don't think she really cares who takes the blame, Prime." Arcee mused, leaning back in her seat with an odd expression. "That's not really the issue here."

Terabyte locked optics with the other femme for a moment before saying quietly, "Arcee is correct. I do not wish to knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly bring harm to any of the mechs of this team. A brief calculation of the given data warns of my very being here raising the risks of attack by over twenty percent. For me to be given further responsibility and power raises the risks to an 83% chance of a full-force attack."

"You're just as stubborn as Prowl was!" Ratchet burst out in exasperation. "So... number-bound!"

Optimus was still smiling that tiny, knowing smile that was beginning to unnerve her. "Terabyte, did you factor in your loyalties?"

She blinked. The Prime looked like he'd just won the same argument for the millionth time. She frowned, confused by his sudden smugness. Of course she'd factored that in. "Yes, sir, but what you are failing to understand is that I know my boss very well and the likelihood of Soundwave forgetting to put a failsafe of some sort in place while he had full access to my core programming is extremely slight."

"I've scanned your processors multiple times since then, including a deep programming scan and detected no such failsafe." Ratchet assured her.

Her faceplates went slack, her optics widening marginally before she pulled a hard scowl over her expression. "Do you know how little that actually means? This is Soundwave we're talking about." A shudder ran down her struts, as she sat down slowly, "That just means I won't even notice until its far, far too late, much less be able to stop it."

A charcoal hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing it gently in a consoling manner. A string of meaningless, soothing whirrs came from the yellow scout before he said, **"Terabyte, stop stressing yourself out. We trust you."**

"That's what worries me." She replied quietly, her optics ridges furrowing in distress, looking down at the spiky haired boy that had crawled up to rest his hands on hers.

After about a half a breem, Optimus sighed. "Before we proceed, are there any other concerns to be discussed?"

When the half crescent of mechs remained silent and seated, the Prime motioned for Cliffjumper to step back from the podium. The red mech complied, favoring his left pede ever so slightly. No one else would have even noticed, yet it made Terabyte cringe and have to stifle the urge to pull her armor down to a guilty angle.

"Skyquake, if you would please step up to the podium." Once the stoic green jet had done so, hitching his wings up high and tight, Optimus continued, "Defector Skyquake, for the afore stated crimes, how would you plea?"

Skyquake locked optics with Terabye for a moment before raising an optic ridge, as though the question didn't even need to be asked, his tone implying how obvious he thought it was, "Guilty."

The Prime didn't hesitate or question his plea like he had Cliffjumper's. He already knew that Skyquake would plead guilty. It was his duty, and he owed it to the deceased to take responsibility for his crimes. "You confessed prior to this trial that you were the instigator of the incursions stated. Do you now stand by that confession?"

Almost too quickly, the mech replied, "Yes."

"Cliffjumper, as our only witness of the matter, is this confession honest?"

The red mech shifted his crudely replaced pede before nodding, not trusting his vocalizer. Terabyte's optics caught Skyquake's and narrowed suspiciously. It was not like Skyquake to instigate such an incursion, synth-En charged or not.

She purposefully twitched her left finial, the silent question making the mech's optics widen minutely before his wings flicked down in a guilty motion. His ruby optics held a plea for her to keep his lie hidden. The femme averted her gaze to the table with a slight nod, knowing that he would understand.

The exchanged passed in hardly an astrosecond, unnoticed by anyone else.

"Then the judgements will proceed." Optimus glanced down at his datapad before continuing solemnly, "For being a paroled prisoner and the instigator of the aforementioned series of crimes, you understand that your punishment will be more severe than that of your partner in crime?"

"Yes sir."

"For theft and illegal consumption of stolen experimental substances, you will be assigned menial labor for three quartex. For betrayal of the trust and leniency given in your parole, which you abused and for insubordination and unescorted absence from base, you will be restricted and confined to base for the foreseeable future. You will not be granted any outdoor activities, escorted or otherwise. Should you defy this order in any way, a wing clamp will be employed until you have proven yourself able to submit to our authority."

Terabyte took in and expelled a deep draft of air. She had not expected the Prime to be lenient, but the idea of refusing to let a flier fly, confining him to an underground base for an indefinite length of time. It was harsher than she'd been expecting.

Surprisingly, Skyquake showed no signs of displeasure, concern, or dismay. He just stayed in the same, stiff, but accepting position, not even blinking. Like he'd expected no less, and like it was nothing new.

Now that she really thought about it though, it wasn't anything new. Although there was no spoken order to remain in base, the green jet hadn't even flown five times in all his time here. He just hadn't ever complained about it.

"For torturing a fellow Cybertronian to the extinguishing of his life force, you will receive thirty lashes and three quartex brig time - in which you will leave the brig escorted for the duration of menial labor only - on half rations with your weapons systems disabled and your subspace locked." Optimus concluded, suddenly looking horribly exhausted. "Both of the accused will face a sentence of twenty vorns imprisonment for the inhumane murder of Blitzwing, to be carried out at the end of the war. Any objections or questions may now be expressed."

For the first time in the trial, Skyquake looked somewhat uncomfortable, his wings pulled tight to mask the light tremble. "I would like to request further description of the nature of the lashes to be given, sir."

The room, which had for a moment begun to vibrate with the murmurs of discussion, went deathly still.

The Prime nodded in acceptance of the request. "I am not Megatron, Skyquake. Your wings will be properly restrained to ensure that they are not harmed in the administering of the lashes in accordance to your rights of frame choice. The device used will be a simple Enforcer-class cybertonium whip, and a protective gel will be applied prior to the administering of discipline to limit long-term effects and scarring. Dorsal plating alone will be removed in respect to your rights of privacy."

The larger mech looked confused at the Matrix-bearer's detailed description. Cocking his helm slightly, he echoed, "Rights?"

It hurt Terabyte to consider that her closest friend, who had taken Primus only knew how many beatings for her, had never once been punished with fairness. Once again she was appalled by how blind she had been. How could she have never realized just how despicable her faction was? How could she have been so foolishly naive? So willfully ignorant?

"What?!" Bulkhead spoke up, sounding enraged, "Have you never had rights?"

The fighter jet's blank expression spoke louder than his words ever could. He casually flicked a wing, refusing to look at Terabyte.

She likewise, refused to look up from where her gaze was locked on the table in front of her.

"Slag..." The large olive Wrecker muttered, rubbing the back of his helm with a loud ex-vent.

"When are we going to have the lashings?" Arcee asked quietly, her expression softening as she watched Cliffjumper stand in utter defeat, his whole frame and field deflated.

"As soon as possible." Skyquake bit out, tilting his wings down in apology as soon as he'd said it, "... Sir."

The Prime nodded, his next words coming in slow agreement, "Skyquake is correct. As soon as possible would be most preferable, for all involved I believe."

Beside her the yellow scout gave an almost apologetic bleep before hesitantly asking, **"Um... W-Who's going to give the lashings? C-Cause that's normally Cliff's job, and he's, you know, guilty, so..."**

Terabyte's optics went wide and her faceplates went slack as she realized just what Bumblebee was implying. Her helm was already shaking back and forth emphatically long before she became aware of it, her engine whining. Her lips were already mouthing the words long before her vocalizer caught up enough to make her whisper in horror, "No. No no no no no. No!"

"I won't do it!" She shouted desperately, her spark clenched painfully in her chest, her armor plastering itself against her frame, her mask falling to reveal her horrified and agonized expression, all thoughts of her outward facade of calm lost in her fear, "I won't do it! You can't make me do this! Please... don't make me do this. Please!"

Her frame was overheating and her fans had kicked in, her vents heaving in short, rapid breaths. The little femme's tanks churned at the very idea of what they were asking. Her processors were locked and going fuzzy, repeating over and over the desperate mantra, "No no no no no no. You can't make me do this. No! I won't do it, you can't make me do it..."

Large hands were on her shoulders, steadying her as she choked on her vents, all of her systems malfunctioning from the extent of her emotional disarray. Her processors were locking up and if she didn't calm down she was going to glitch.

Maybe they wouldn't make her do it if she glitched.

There was no way she would willingly deal out the number of lashes the Prime had sentenced. Not to Cliffjumper, and most definitely not to Skyquake. She'd rather take the whipping herself than do that to them.

Coolant was beginning to drip from her optics as she kept shaking her helm, choking on her own breaths as her frame continued to overheat.

"Shhh... It's okay, Tera." A so beautifully reassuring voice whispered, the hands on her shoulders now soothingly rubbing her upper arms. "It's alright, Terabyte, calm down. You're okay, everything's alright, you can calm down. No one's asked you to do anything."

She took in a slow, shuddery breath, her optics dimming as she focused in on the steady thrum of the strong spark behind her, spreading her finials to catch as much of the calming vibrations as she could. Her vents still heaving, the little femme looked up into Skyquake's faceplates, seeking some sort of reassurance.

"Don't let them make me hurt you..." She begged, "Please, I don't want to hurt you."

"Prime, I've got the authority to do it just as much as she does. I'll do it." Arcee said, standing up, bringing the attention of everyone in the room to her.

"Arcee, that is not for you to decide." The Prime's regal reply brought another pitiful whimper from Terabyte's vocalizer. "Terabyte has been given charge over such matters and I expect no less of her than of any other mech on my team. She will perform her duty."

The younger two-wheeler cringed at the last word, allowing two final tears to fall before she snapped her mask up and rerouted her coolant flow to where she could cry no more. With a rough internal command she forced herself to revert to the level of cold, professional formality that was her best defense. Her armor flared out abruptly as she rose from her seat.

He was right of course. Especially after that statement. When push came to shove, she would always perform her duty. Because duty's call - something she'd grown so attuned to - would always drive her on. It was not something she could simply dismiss.

The Prime had no idea how much power he held over her with that one, short little word.

Giving the Prime a stiff, low bow of submission, Terabyte nodded curtly, awaiting further orders like a good soldier.

Because who was she to defy duty's summoning?


	46. Aftermath

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 46**

**Aftermath**

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**And here we go. I don't own Transformers, the Transformers: Prime television series this fic is built in, or any canon Transformers... stuff. I own Terabyte and her story alone.**

**Also, just as a warning, I'm planning on starting up another fic called A Race Through the Night, which may or may not show up sometime soonish, so my Duty and Deceit updates may most likely move to being bi-weekly rather than weekly.**

* * *

_/Memorandum/_

_As of this date, Commanders Skyquake and Dreadwing have been released from the medical isolation for spark recovery, and will be reposted immediately by the chief medical officer's orders._

_/data:medical-release-memo/_

_A determined scowl came to the spy's optics as she checked her chronometer quickly. The next thing that she checked was the locations of the two jets, which she accomplished by via the security feeds which her department head had recently, and rather conveniently, granted her access to. Perfect._

_The femme offlined her terminal without bothering to close anything she had running. No one else was ever on her terminal anyway._

_In less than a klick, she had left the CI department long behind her and was storming towards the commanders' quarters level. When she reached the level she wanted, the spy had to hack the lock just to get onto the level, but that was easy enough. She took a moment to cover all traces of her hack. _

_Before she'd even embarked on her personal mission, she'd modified and rerouted the security feeds so that she wouldn't get caught. She was fairly confident that not even Soundwave would notice anything wrong. After all, she was on break, so she wouldn't be missed. _

_She walked with confident strides, as though she owned the place. She noted with a satisfied smirk as she passed a face-masked purple and orange armored commander that he didn't even glance sideways at her. If she weren't otherwise preoccupied, she might have noticed that he scanned of trans-dimensional phase generator particles._

_The two-wheeler came to an abrupt halt at the end of the corridor and double-checked the number on the door. Nodding to herself, the femme scrutinized the key pad with skilled optics, running several multi-phasic scans to examine the interior of the panel. She smiled as she noted distinct signs of deterioration on several of the keys. _

_That left about sixteen possible combinations. _

_In half a klick, the femme was standing smugly inside the mechs' shared quarters. Now to wait._

_About a breem later, the door swooshed open to let in a suspicious and exhausted looking blue and gold jet._

_She lunged, catching the mech by surprise, using her weight and momentum to slam the still-recovering mech into the closed door behind him. Her golden optics glinted dangerously in the dimly lit quarters. _

_"How are your recoveries coming?" She snarled, her tone in opposition to her pleasant words as she extended her Energon dagger and pressed it against his chassis to hold him in his place. _

_His hands were held up in half-surrender, but they were held as though he was wondering if he'd get away with tearing her apart. Dreadwing growled, "What do you want, femme? For what cause have you come to antagonize me?"_

_"I think you know well enough." She hissed, pressing the blade in a little harder, but not enough to hurt the mech, just threaten him. She couldn't hurt him. Not unless she wanted to hurt Skyquake too. But that was why she was here. "Your spark is Skyquake's and his is yours."_

_"Yes." Dreadwing spat impatiently, sneering down at the femme that was hardly half his height. He could easily offline her, yet he didn't dare harm her for the same reason she wouldn't harm him. "Have you truly been so blind and daft as to just __**now**__ realize this?"_

_"I'd watch your glossa, if I were you." The Prussian blue and black femme warned darkly, pulling a long scratch across his chest._

_"And I'd watch yours, Major." He countered with another deep growl that vibrated her whole frame through her dagger. "Like you say, our spark is one. Snuff me, and you snuff us both."_

_She snorted derisively, snickering darkly, "Snuff you? Snuff you?! You think that's what I'm here for?" The femme glared up at the blue mech, "How self-centeredly __**thick**__! We both know that neither of us will ever be able to kill each other."_

_"If not that, what have you come for?" _

_"I have come for your word. For a promise: nothing sinister." In spite of her soft words, the two-wheeler slammed him back against the door, hearing him grunt as she jarred his wing-cons. A frighteningly cold, determined gleam shone in her optics as she went on in more detail._

_"You and Skyquake are one and the same. As you said, to take out one is to take out both. That's just how twins work." Her hands balled up into tight fists, "He nearly __**died**__ because of you. Don't you __**dare**__ hurt him like this again, or Primus help you if you do, because I will not stop until your life is no more than a living Pit."_

_"Been there, done that." The jet sneered down at her with a nonchalant shrug. "But I swear to you that Skyquake will not willingly come to harm by my hand or by my actions."_

She clenched her jaw tight and wrapped her servos around the cold steel of the handle of the Enforcer's whip, feeling its solid weight like the very world in her hands. Her finials were held tightly so as to reveal nothing.

"Agent Fowler, I understand that it is the childrens' 'supper-time'?" Ratchet said quietly, the unspoken command shortly followed by footsteps and the children's hushed questions as they were ushered out.

Shortly afterwards the man returned, giving the Prime a curt nod before climbing the steps up and standing on the table beside the Matrix-bearer.

"Ready to proceed." The man said loudly, crossing his arms over his chest.

The femme scowled. "The human is to be witness for his race?"

"Well, mainly just the government and the military, but yes." Fowler responded with a smug smirk. He jerked on his striped neck tie impatiently, "I'll be here to take record of the proceedings to report die-rectly to the Pentagon." He glared up at Optimus, tapping his watch rudely, "I'm on a tight schedule, Prime, so could you tell your pet Con to get on with it?"

Terabyte hissed at the arrogant fleshling before flicking her wrist slightly. "The Prime's 'pet Con' is ready to begin whenever you deem you have complained sufficiently."

The man said no more.

She tested the weight of the whip carefully, calculating just exactly how much force to use to inflict sufficient discipline, yet inflict the minimal amount of harm. Satisfied with her calculations, she remained painfully still and quiet as the Prime moved the podium aside and made the two mechs lay their helms and forearms against the wall before motioning her forward.

It seemed as though the harsh silence that she had affected upon herself had brought a sort of quiet in the room that everyone was afraid of breaking.

She went to Cliffjumper first, swiftly unclasping and removing the many layers of his dorsal plating with detached movements until the bare protoform of his back was uncovered from the waist up. She examined the mech's back with medical scrutiny, adjusting her calculations slightly with a minute scowl.

The mech turned for just a moment to, without meeting her optics, hand her a small jar of some sort of pale gray paste. She took it with a quick nod, scanning the paste to determine its composition.

Scowling a bit harder, the little femme adjusted her formula yet again. She didn't feel qualified to make this kind of judgement. To coldly calculate how much damage to deal to mech as justice, without even knowing how much damage the whip would actually do. She wasn't qualified to make that sort of decision.

Her calculations would likely be more accurate if she eliminated some of the variables and estimates. She had never had experience with giving a whipping, or with the Enforcer's whips.

Experiece would grant more wisdom than numbers.

Her mind made up, the femme's dainty servos hastily removed a piece of the light preliminary armor on her thigh. With one steady, precise motion, Terabyte struck her thigh with hard, calculated force, hissing at the sting as already her thigh began to throb. She clasped the armor back on with a wince behind her mask.

The calculations were not wrong. They rarely were. Yet her spark felt faintly lighter with the confirmation she now had.

The little femme was too focused to notice the hum of approval from the Prime, or the grunts of surprise from the medic and the Wrecker.

After she'd applied the paste, Terabyte took in a deep, steadying vent and clenched her jaw before laying the first blow. And the next.

Five.

Cliffjumper's muscle cabling had constricted, and his body was tensed up, his hands straining as he gripped the wall for all he was worth. She continued the lashing, holding herself perfectly still, a feat that made her whole frame ache, especially from keeping her armor flared and not shaking. The red mech's EM field flared out in waves of pain at each stroke, making the femme cringe inwardly with each wave.

Ten.

The red warrior's armor was now beginning to tremble against his frame, and his whole frame jerked involuntarily every time the cybertonium whip collided with his back. Each stroke of the whip tore a gasp from his mouth. Terabyte's fans kicked up to full speed to account for how she was taxing her frame by repressing the whine of her engines, holding the reroute of her coolant flow, and maintaining her stiffly calm, professional outlook.

Fifteen.

In spite of her distinct efforts to assure that no lashes crossed, Cliffjumper was shaking hard enough that he was having difficulties holding himself up against the wall. Ratchet came over at this point and put a steadying hand on the mech's horned helm, just to let his presence give the warrior some sort of reassurance.

Terabyte dealt the final blow, watching the mech collapse to his knees. Her optics locked onto a small pool of coolant tears beneath where the mech had stood, forcing a low keen that she couldn't repress from her vocals.

A convulsive shudder ran down her struts.

She let out the shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding, took the small device the medic offered her, and moved over to Skyquake, leaving Ratchet to replace Cliffjumper's dorsal plating. She vaguely heard the Prime order Arcee to take the red mech back to the brig.

The black and navy femme stopped to briefly examine the round, glowing device. It had three claws on it, and beneath its casing, the Comms and Intel specialist could see an intricate array of wiring and circuitry. It was a fairly common device, designed to temporarily deactivate an appendage. This would be for his wings, like they'd promised.

She placed it gently on the huge green jet's wing connectors, watching the little device whirr and spin before locking down on his wing-cons, making his wings go unnaturally still. Nodding to herself, Terabyte stretched up to unclasp Skyquake's dorsal plating before falling back down on her heels with an agitated sigh.

"Sky, you're going to have to kneel for me..." She whispered, "I- I can't reach."

If it weren't for the gravity of their circumstances, and the prospect of what she was about to do, her plight would have been comical. The two of them would laugh about it for orns.

Skyquake turned to look at her with his usual smirk planted on his face, his ruby optics twinkling, "I would gladly kneel before you, my lady."

Terabyte returned the smile with a weak, sad little upward quirk of her lips. It was a good thing that he couldn't see it, because that pathetic attempt at a smile showed just how broken these lashings would leave her.

Once the mech was turned back to the wall, the femme began removing his dorsal plating, layer by layer, like she had on Cliffjumper, with that same medical detachment. Only the fighter jet had armor as thick as Megatron's, so it took her about half a breem to get down to protoform.

When she did, the femme's whole demeanor and facade crumbled in astroseconds, a gasp tearing through her lips as her armor collapsed against her frame and tightened around her so firmly that her biolights were shielded from view.

"I... I'm sorry, Prime..." She whispered, shaking her helm as coolant began to fill her wide, scarlet optics. She couldn't tear her optics away from the horrific sight in front of her. "I... can't do this."

Thick, jagged scars criss-crossed every inch of the mech's visible protoform, making a stark contrast to the smooth, shiny protoform of Cliffjumper's back. She didn't hear the collective gasp that filled the already tense air, or the angry rumbles of Autobot engines. All she could think about was the many horror stories carved into his protoform.

Permanent welts ran across his back, not finishing at his wing-cons, making her terrified to think of what his wings would look like. Scrapes and poorly done welds weaved through and around the welts, and dark patches of protoform told of many punishments being literally seared into him.

Most of the old wounds showed obvious signs of having never been even partially repaired, simply leaving the mech's self repair systems to hash together the mess that lay before her.

She choked down a sob as coolant pooled over the rim of her mask.

Skyquake didn't turn from where he knelt with his helm and forearms pressed into the wall, but his calm, almost remorseful voice rumbled through the air, bringing her from the nightmarish images that her mind was conjuring, no doubt not coming close to the atrocities that really happened.

"Terabyte, it's okay, it's alright." He said quietly, his EM field brushing out to meet hers, radiating strength and reassurance. "It's in the past, Tera, it... it can't hurt us now. You're alright, everything's alright. You can do this, Terabyte, I know you can."

She whimpered softly, "But I don't want to hurt you... more..."

He sighed heavily. He hadn't wanted her to know, at least not like this. He hadn't wanted to hurt her like this, and he hadn't wanted it to be because she was being forced to whip him. "Trust me, Tera, listen to me. You are strong. You can do this, and we'll get through this. Just like we've gotten through everything else up until now."

"Please, Terabyte..." The fighter jet was practically begging her now, "I _need_ you to do this."

She nodded slowly, dipping two servos into the white paste, carefully ran her servos over Skyquake's back, tenderly applying the paste. Her face was slack as she applied the paste, trying to no avail to ignore the massive welts under her servos that were so numerous as to be unavoidable. She wondered if the scars ever hurt him.

It made her ill just to look at them, much less to lash him on top of it.

He had taken so much hurt, and so much of it was her fault. How could she have possibly not noticed that something so awful was happening in the Decepticon forces? Her spark clenched in guilt and anger at how blind she'd allowed her rage to make her. Had she truly been so naive to it all? No, so willfully ignorant.

This had happened to him because she was a fool, blinded by lust for revenge. Too blinded to see that she was causing harm to the new family fate had given her. She'd been given a second chance and she'd nearly blown it to avenge the first.

But he was right. All of that was in the past now. And she had a duty to perform.

Following one's duty was like having a bipolar madmech for a master. One orn it would be pleasant and she'd hardly even notice that her duty was driving her, and the next orn it would drag her from one cruel task to the next, leaving her with no choice but to perform.

No matter how much her spark wanted her to refuse.

She moved to land the first blow and flinched back before she could do it, averting her gaze to the floor. For several klicks she stood like that, glaring at the floor with an intense loathing as she gripped the whip in her hand. It was a losing battle and she knew it. Duty would always win out, because duty brought order to the chaos in her life. Yet she fought with a passion.

"Forgive me." The Protihexian two-wheeler whispered at last, laying the first stroke.

Five.

Skyquake knelt against the wall impassively, not even flinching as the lashes went on. Not a sound came from the mech, not a single wince or jerk wracked his frame. His only movement was the unavoidable lurch forward from the whip's impacts. Terabyte cringed every time she swung the whip, her armor pressing into her as hard as it could, her finials painfully contracted to try and block out the sound of whip against protoform.

Ten.

Still Skyquake showed no signs of pain, no signs of any feeling at all, though her scans showed that his pain receptors had not been offlined. The only change in his posture was that he'd gone perfectly tense and stiff beneath the lashes. She was certain that she would have felt better if he'd only screamed or at least flinched and gasped. But this was so much worse, because she knew that he was only hiding it for her.

Fifteen.

Now the jet's armor trembled faintly, and his vents came more heavily. His hands shook imperceptibly against the wall. His frame jerked away involuntarily as each blow was landed on his scarred back. Terabyte could hear her own armor rattling against her frame it was shaking so hard. She could taste life-En in her mouth from her biting her glossa, and a low whine rose from her vocalizers. She cringed with every lash as though she were receiving them herself, not dealing them.

Twenty.

Due to the way a flier's wings were connected, she no longer had any way to avoid crossing the lashes. The first time the whip fell across new welts, the mech let out a short gasp, but no more. His armor shook a little harder, and his claws pierced through the concrete walls under the force he was gripping it with. A crunch of a handful of concrete being pulverized in his grip filled her audials. Terabyte's hands trembled enough that it was becoming difficult to land each blow.

Twenty-five.

Skyquake let out the beginning of a howl before a distinctive hiss of static signified that he'd forcibly offlined his vocalizer. Even as she beat him, his only thought was to protect her. He was hiding just how much he hurt, because he knew that it would hurt her. She choked on her next vent at the revelation, but went on, taking a miniscule comfort in knowing she was nearly finished.

Thirty.

As soon as she'd landed the final lash, Terabyte fell to her diamond-shaped kneeplates, where she curled into a ball with her helm buried in her pedes. She flung the Enforcer's whip from her in disgust, not caring where it went, or fully processing that had he not dodged, it would have collided with the Prime's helm.

She rocked back and forth gently, sobbing into her knees with no cares about the Autobots in the room watching her with concern and pity.

A series of clicks of armor being clasped into place were shortly followed by a whirr as the wing restraining device was removed, then she felt Skyquake shift so that he was kneeling beside her. Her engine hitched as a shaky hand landed on her shoulder, giving her a gentle, comforting squeeze.

Terabyte looked up into his face, her own coolant stained face-plates still masked. He had life-En streaming from his lower lip where he'd bitten it to keep from showing the pain. She reached up to slowly wipe the Energon from his chin.

This was all her fault. This was the punishment for her betrayal last quartex. Optimus had hardly punished her at all for what she had done under Soundwave's manipulation. This was how she was being punished. The worst punishment he could possibly give. Not punishing her directly, but making her hurt the ones she cared for.

He smiled weakly, giving her shoulder another squeeze before rising with a more than a little bit precarious sway. He had definitely taken beatings a hundred times worse than this one - he had the scars to prove it - but that didn't make what she'd done any better. Nor did it make it hurt any less.

It just meant that he still _could_ stand, albeit unsteadily.

She leapt to her pedes and placed herself under his arm just in time to catch the mech before he overbalanced and hurt himself falling. Hydraulics in her pedes hissed under the added weight and her whole frame groaned in protest. She felt her logic processors shut down from the emotional stress of what she'd just done.

_Warning: Load is beyond weight-bearing capabilities. Dropping load is advised._

The two-wheeler let out a bark of humorless laughter at that, drawing curious gazes to her as her struts creaked again. She could feel Skyquake struggling to get his balance enough to take at least part of the weight off of her, which only made her laugh a little more.

**"OP... I think we broke her..."** Bumblebee buzzed quietly, giving a concerned whirl of clicks and beeps.

The warning that had her giggling breathlessly popped up again on her HUD, a little more urgently. As she giggled a bit longer, even Skyquake looked down at her with confused worry, "Tera?"

"My processors are telling me to drop you." She explained, grinning up at him behind her mask. "Like, HUD warnings and everything."

Now the green fighter jet chuckled, wincing as it shook his sore frame, "And will you?"

"Maybe, maybe not." She sang, still not caring about their puzzled audience. "Though really, mech, you need to lose a ton or two if you want me to run around with you on my shoulders. I'm gonna blow a hydraulic or a strut or something."

Skyquake looked down at the loopy femme half his size who was currently keeping him from falling flat on his face. He gave her a small smile so she knew that he'd heard her, but his optics shone with concern.

Half of her processors seemed to have simply given up. The logical half. She was beside herself and to cope with it, her logic centers just shut down. Leaving her like this.

He hadn't wanted this to ever have happened. For over a decavorn he had done all that he possibly could to protect her from this. From the pain that this would cause when she came back to herself. He fought with his frame until at last he managed to take some of his weight off of the tiny femme.

The jet glared over her helm at the Prime. There had been no rhyme or reason for the great Matrix-bearer to subject her to this. He didn't care about getting the lashes. They were nothing compared to previous ones. But someone else should have dealt them. It hurt him more that she had been hurt hurting him because of him.

And he didn't care that that made absolutely no sense to anyone that wasn't him.

He didn't need it to make sense; it was just a simple fact that had become a part of him since he had met Terabyte. His spark didn't need for his logic processors to explain it in order for him to understand it.

"My Prime," Skyquake rumbled, carressing her helm tenderly in his hand, knowing that beneath her giggling and her light-helmedness, her spark was in turmoil. "Permission to be escorted to the brig by Terabyte."

The Prime locked optics with him for a moment before nodding regally. "Permission granted. Bumblebee, accompany them."

Skyquake inclined his helm in acknowledgement, striding slowly towards the brig, leaning on Terabyte as much as he dared for support. He hissed and bit hard on his glossa as she wrapped an arm around his back in an attempt to help hold him up, but he didn't say anything.

"Skyquake?"

He looked down at the little two-wheeler who had gradually shifted from supporting him to leaning into him. He smiled fondly down at her, hiding the grimace as he adjusted to hold all of his weight again, plus the added weight of her leaning into him. Her steps were sluggish and uncoordinated.

Each step jarred his bruised back, but he didn't let it get to him. He had taken far worse than this far too often to be affected. It disgusted him how weak he had become. Between the seven vorns of stasis and having his processors partially torn out, he had grown soft. Pain hurt more than it did before.

"Yes?" He asked finally, when the femme didn't continue.

"Where are we going?" She queried, her tone soft and trusting.

He had a feeling he could have told her they were going back to her apartment in Protihex to see her parents and she would have believed him without a single doubt in her poor, over-taxed spark.

"To the brig." He said gently, feeling Terabyte hug him closer with a worried whine at his words, her actions bringing the vivid image of a frightened youngling to the foremost part of his mind.

After a few more steps, she asked innocently with a scared waver in her beautiful voice, "Did I do something bad?"

She was going to fall into recharge soon, he could hear it in her voice, and feel it in the way her frame got continually heavier as she leaned into him more and more for support. She was in denial and her processors were pushing her into recharge to try and bring order to her mind without having to fight with her spark.

"No..." He sighed deeply, waiting for the yellow scout to take down the force field to let them in to the cell he was assigned. "No, Tera, you haven't done anything wrong."

"My spark hurts, Sky..." She whispered sleepily, buring her helm in his chest as soon as they'd sat down on the brig berth, drawing her pedes up under herself. "Why?"

Skyquake leaned back tenderly into the wall, wincing as his back touched the wall. He flicked a wing in annoyance. He reached over with one hand and pulled the light prison-grade blanket over the nearly asleep two-wheeler, then wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

"Because it is kind, Terabyte." He whispered back, his sensors telling him that she would not be able to stay awake much longer. "Because it is kind, and loving, and belongs to the most beautiful femme I have ever had the privilege of knowing..."

She took a huge vent and burrowed into him more. "You're really nice... I like you..." She yawned, her engine purring contentedly as she mumbled blearily, "I-I... I think I'll have'ta keep y'round, pretty winger... Warm and fuzzy pretty winger."

It took great effort for him not to burst out laughing at the little femme's loopy rambling. He smiled down at her fondly as the recharging femme snuggled up against him, pulling the blanket the rest of the way around herself. He sat there, watching her sleep half-way in his lap before slowly leaning his helm back against the wall, taking great pains - literally - not to disturb her.

His optics drifted around the room in a lazy habit of checking his surroundings before allowing himself to recharge. His gaze was greeted with two frames on the second brig berth in much the same position as he and Terabyte.

Cliffjumper sat on the berth with his back gingerly against the wall. Arcee sat beside him, curled into his side with the red mech's arm draped over her shoulders. Sky blue optics met ruby in a single look of mutual understanding.

They both sighed as deeply as they dared without hurting themselves.

He stroked Terabyte's revealed face-plate softly, running his thumb over the scar from her optic to her lip. It was fading, slowly. Seven vorns had smoothed it out considerably, softening the edges that had once been so jagged.

Bending down carefully, and grimacing as the movement stretched his sore back, Skyquake hesitated for a moment before planting a gentle kiss on the top of her ridged black helm, smiling at how her engine purred.

Skyquake slid back against the wall and slipped into the void of recharge.

**Next Day. 0400.**

_"Because it is kind, Terabyte... Because it is kind, and loving, and it belongs to most beautiful femme I have ever had the privilege of knowing."_

_"You're really nice... I like you..." She whispered blearily, "I-I... I think I'll have'ta keep y'round, pretty winger... Warm and fuzzy pretty winger..."_

Terabyte smiled contentedly and listened to the steady thrum of Skyquake's spark. It was such a nice thing to wake up to. It seemed to be happening frequently as of late, waking up to that thrum. She shifted her pedes stiffly and moved her helm from where the jet's arm had slid to put a weird pressure on her finial, giving her a small helm-ache.

Or maybe the helm ache was from half her processors offlining. Then her optics flew wide as she remembered the events that led up to her logic processors shutting down.

A horrified choke sounded from her vocalizers and she bolted upright, waking the green jet with a start. She shuddered, wishing that her logic processors had just stayed offline. Her vents started heaving and she shuttered her optics as coolant began to flow again, her body having synthesized a new coolant supply.

"What's wrong?" Skyquake mumbled, his optics still dim from recharge. He shifted with a low groan.

She buried her helm in his cockpit, trying to hide her tears from him. Not that it did much good since her tears were now rolling down the glass surface of his cockpit. Her sobs wracked her frame as the green jet's arms came around her to awkwardly rub her back as she cried into him.

"Shh..." Skyquake whispered softly, holding her helm in his large hand. She could feel him slowly coming more awake, signified by the stifled moans of discomfort. "It's alright, shh..."

"But it isn't!" She pleaded desperately, even though she knew the answers, "Why did you let me do it? Why did _I _let me do it?"

"I asked for you to do it, Terabyte." He replied firmly, turning sideways on the berth to push her away and look into her optics sternly, holding her by her shoulders. "And you have no idea how much I appreciate it. My only regret is that you were hurt in the process."

Terabyte shook her helm, her engine hitching loudly, "Sky... I hurt you! How can you be so - so grateful?"

He smiled at her in a way that broke a tiny part of her spark inside. His perfect ruby optics held the same, self-hating gleam of guilt that she'd seen too often in her own reflection. "Because I deserved far more, Tera... I am grateful because you were there for me the whole time. I don't think you fully realize just how much that means to me."

Her revealed, coolant-stained expression contorted in confusion and she cocked her helm in silent question where she now sat cross-legged across from Skyquake, whose hands and come down to hold hers.

He gave a self-deprecating smile, shrugging lightly as though what he was about to say was a long-standing fact, "Terabyte, I love you." He chuckled at her somehow simultaneously shocked, puzzled, suspicious, and thrilled expression, "I told you as much before I ever saw your face, and again before I came to Earth, and I'm telling you again now. And it will only grow truer for as long as my spark pulses within me. Nothing can change that, not this, not Dreadwing, not even Primus himself."

She frowned minutely at the frustrated expression that crossed his face for a split second when he mentioned his twin, bringing her to urge quietly, "What is it?"

"It doesn't matter, just my processors still sorting out old memories."

She pursed her lips in minor annoyance, momentarily filing away what he'd just told her to bring up again at another time. "Sky. Y-you brought up Dreadwing... Is he coming?"

"Yes." Skyquake replied instantly, before averting his gaze. His spark burned whenever his processors brought up the name, but he didn't know why. He hesitated for a moment before venturing to ask, "Who... Who is he?"

Her mouth fell open into a little 'o'. He didn't remember his own twin. She closed her mouth, then opened it again to answer only to hesitate.

If he didn't know his own twin, then he must have inadvertently closed down the bond when he was so badly damaged six quartex ago when he awoke. Which meant that he had nothing in his spark to constantly deride how he just professed to feel for her. It also meant that his other half's damages wouldn't be able to cause him near the pain as before.

Not knowing kept her closest friend safer and more free.

She automatically berated herself for thinking so selfishly, but the thoughts refused to leave her mind. The temptation to keep him in the dark was overwhelming. But she tightened her jaw and shoved the selfish thoughts aside.

She couldn't just lie to him. Not about this. Especially not now.

Because the more she thought about it, she knew that she... that she loved him. She'd never even considered putting that word to how she felt, but for the first time his words seemed to fully click in her mind and she knew that it was true. And love - a concept that confused so many - was not as she had been told so many times before. Love was not an emotion to come and go with ease.

It was a promise.

"Dreadwing..." She started slowly, her processors still mulling over the revelations that were flooding her mind and spark. "Dreadwing is your twin, Sky. You are a split spark, and he is the other half of your being."

His expression went solemn and thoughtful, his ruby optics dimming as he took this in and factored it in with all the memories that had no doubt been confusing him to no end since his recovery. Nearly a breem passed, Terabyte's own expression growing harder every astrosecond.

The other jet hated her.

She'd known that for far longer than Sky had. In fact, she was pretty certain that he still didn't fully understand just how much his twin hated her. The blue and gold mech had kept it well hidden until Skyquake left. Sure, Dreadwing kept her safe just as Skyquake had made him promise to.

That never meant he had to like it.

Given the way twin bonds worked, that had always been a shadow over every interaction. A wall of restraint. To be perfectly blunt with herself, she saw the blue and gold mech as nothing more than a cause of strife from the day she'd learned they were twins.

She didn't hate Dreadwing. Not at all. He was the other half of Skyquake, she couldn't hate him. She just didn't care about him. He was just a way for Skyquake to get hurt without even being on the battlefield. He was a health risk.

Finally Skyquake's engine let out a rumble that jarred her from her conflicted thoughts as he spoke quietly, his tone dead serious. "Was I different when I knew him?"

"You..." She frowned, searching for the right words to express what she wanted to without showing how she truly felt on the matter. "You were not different. Just, a little held back, comparatively."

He scowled, his optics showing that he'd made a decision. "I don't remember him. Not properly. Not enough to throw away what we've worked so hard to build here with the Autobots. He is still a Decepticon, we are not. I do not need him. If I meet him again, and this twin bond you tell me I share with him revives, perhaps I will reconsider."

She leaned back, her optics widening in surprise at his unexpected take on it. Never had she even considered him looking at it like that. His spark would have to be in constant pain from the locked bond, she couldn't let him make this decision so rashly. Though a small portion of her mind told her that it wouldn't hurt to just let it go until it became an issue - if it ever did.

"But what about your spark?" The two-wheeler asked quietly, keeping her tone free of any signs that she didn't want him to change his mind.

"As long as you are here, it doesn't matter, Terabyte." He replied confidently, gently tilting her chin up to look her in the optics, "Together we can get through anything."

She smiled softly, nodding her helm in agreement, then nodding again as though in confirmation. She turned and leaned back against the wall, staring out at the energy field locking the four of them in. "Because... because you... love me?"

"Because I love you, and my only duty is to you." Skyquake repeated quietly, staring at the energy field just like she was, each of them simply sitting side by side, enjoying the other's presence.

Terabyte smirked, laughing an overwhelmed little laugh, her processor still working to totally grasp the concept. She didn't figure she'd every fully grasp it, and for the first time, not understanding completely didn't bother her detail-oriented mind. She was content to simply be and allow it to do the same.

"I think I could get used to hearing you say that."

"Not gonna call me your pretty winger?" The fighter jet teased, making her glance up into his twinkling ruby optics that still focused on the force field in front of them.

She elbowed him in mock annoyance, "Hey. No fair, I was half asleep and mentally incapacitated." She gave a derisive snort, "Pretty winger, hm? I wouldn't be so sure that's a title you want to keep, pin-cushion."

"You could modify it a little..." He conceded with a grin, "Handsome would be more fitting, don't you think?"

She snickered, "If you say so, Knockout."

"Oi!" Skyquake exclaimed indignantly, "I object to that!"

She grinned, her scarlet optics lit with a wicked gleam. "You're really not helping your case, mech."

His engine gave a disgruntled rumble, though the wide smile on his face not fading in the slightest. He flicked a wing, not-quite hiding a wince, "So... can we change the subject now, since I'm not winning this one?"

"Oh, am I insulting your vanity now?" She asked, raising an optic ridge cheekily.

_Bing._

Terabyte frowned and opened her comm channel, touching two servos to her finial to let Skyquake know she'd been commed.

_/Lieutenant Terabyte, you and Arcee are needed in the ground-bridge chamber./ _The Prime sent.

_/Yes sir./ _ The black and midnight blue femme replied crisply, rising from where she'd been seated. Glancing over at where Arcee was still recharging against Cliffjumper's shoulder, the spy continued, _/We will be there within the next breem.../ _Running a quick scan to see how deep the other femme was in recharge, Terabyte finished hesitantly, _/Or as close to that as possible.../_

_/Thank you, Terabyte. Optimus out./_

She let out a sigh of relief as the comm link terminated. She smiled over at Skyquake apologetically, her mask rising and her armor flaring back out from where it had relaxed. "Well... you asked for a subject change."

Terabyte strode over to the other berth where Cliffjumper was seated upright in recharge with Arcee slumped beside him. She reached out a hand to shake the femme, but stopped the action half-way. After a moment's consideration, she pulled on an authoritative tone and said, "Arcee. You are needed in the bridge chamber. The Prime has ordered that you wake this instant."

Nothing.

Behind her, Skyquake was chuckling at her futile attempts to persuade the sleeping warrior to wake up. She ignored him and tried again, a bit louder. "Arcee! Your presence is required in the main chamber, wake up immediately."

"You're not going to be able to _talk_ either of them into waking up." The fighter jet behind her commented drily.

"Oh, shush, you." She shot back, staring at the two sleeping Autobots with her brows furrowed in frustration. "She's in a brig cell with a mech - namely you - who still scans as a Decepticon. If I touch her, who's to say she won't try to kill me on waking?"

He hummed in agreement, though he still seemed far more amused by her situation than concerned, "True. You could probably take her. After all, you survived an ambush by the Autobots' famed Terror Twins."

She gave an exasperated huff. Finally she reached out again and shook the slightly taller two-wheeler, keeping as far away as she could and tensing up considerably in anticipation of the femme's explosive reaction.

Nothing.

Her chronometer informed her of the fact that she only had three klicks left to get Arcee awake and to the main chamber before she would be late. She shook the blue and pink femme again, more vigorously this time.

The femme was moving in an instant, a blur of pink and blue being Terabyte's only warning before she was pinned against the wall with the other femme's forearm blade pressed against her neck. Surprisingly Skyquake hadn't moved from where he sat on the berth, still smirking.

She glanced down and realized with a start that her own Energon blade had extended without her noticing and was pressed against Arcee's abdomen, being the reason the other femme had stopped. Her miniature fusion cannon was charged and held level with the other femme's helm. A small smirk came to her own lips. Skyquake knew her well.

"Good morning, Arcee." She said calmly. In spite of her pounding spark, her tone remained crisp and professional. "The Prime requested our presence in the ground-bridge chamber, if you would be so kind as to stand down?"

"Good... morning..." The older femme replied slowly, frowning as she backed away, sheathing the twin forearm blades. Terabyte likewise sheathed her dagger and powered down her mini-cannon. "Sorry... reflex."

She inclined her helm with a hidden smile, "Likewise."

"And it was written in the Covenant of Primus that when the forty-seven spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from chaos and the weak will perish under the shadow of a rising darkness." Optimus recited gravely, pulling up an image on the main terminal of a map of celestial orbits depicting the forty-seven spheres in question.

Bulkhead snorted, "What? No skies raining fire?"

"Goes without saying." Arcee smirked, resting on hand on her hip, "It is a doom prophecy after all."

Beside them, Terabyte held her expression neutral, her processors still a little distracted from her early conversation with Skyquake. Unbeknownst to her, her scarlet optics went dim as she focused inward while they spoke in dramatic tones about bogus prophecies she'd never heard of.

The large olive Wrecker chuckled, waving a dismissive hand. "_I_ say it's a load o' hooey."

Ratchet hummed thoughtfully, scrutinizing the screen with his turquoise optics narrowed. "I'd always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet, but being that Cybertron has been dark for eons..."

Her pleasant thoughts had shifted to a little farther back, to the painful memories of lashing Skyquake and Cliffjumper. And to think that the jet had continued to talk to her with such loving kindness just klicks after she'd dealt their punishment.

"And considering what evils have befallen this planet since Megatron's arrival here-" The Prime put in, Bulkhead cutting him off holding up his hands to halt everyone, Bumblebee whirring in concurrence with the Wrecker.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." The olive mech shook his helm. "We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave 'em a second thought."

The pink and blue warrior nodded in agreement, "Why all the ominous rumblings now?"

She knew that she had been fair in her whipping. She had used no more force than absolutely necessary to be just, and her thigh still burned to prove that she had made absolutely certain of that. No Energon had been drawn, nor did she come close to drawing life-En. The welts would heal completely, there would be no permanent welting or damage to them. Merely an orn or so of discomfort, probably less with the healing compound she'd applied.

"Because the planetary alignment to which the prophecy refers is nearly upon us." Optimus's deep baritone rumbled solemnly. "And it would seem it's end point-"

"Is Earth." Ratchet finished.

Bulkhead chuckled, a little more tentatively this time, "Uh... Huh. Crazy coincidence, r-right?"

The scars, welts, and welds she'd seen on Skyquake's back made her sick. He was a good soldier. Too good a soldier to have taken the number of beatings each scar spoke of. Sure, a portion of them would have been war scars, and scars from his gladiatorial time in the Pits. But there were still far too many.

Perhaps all those times she'd broken protocol and thought she'd gotten away with it...

"There is no such thing as coincidence." Terabyte declared softly, her optics still dim and her focus still not in the present.

The mechs and other femme in the room turned to look at her curiously, their focused gazes bringing her to look up at them with unseeing optics.

The Prime was the first to gently urge, "Would you like to explain what you mean, Terabyte?"

Hearing her name jarred the small two-wheeler back into reality, forcing her optics to reboot and refocus owlishly. She blinked before finally - sounding incredibly intelligent - asking, "Hmm?"

"You said you don't believe in coincidences." Arcee prompted.

At her confused expression, Bumblebee let out a humored reel of beeps, **"So you wanna enlighten us on what about this whole prophecy thing made you say that? Y'know, rather than just standing there with that dead-fish expression?"**

She didn't give the scout the satisfaction of an annoyed scowl. He couldn't even see her expression anyway. Instead she turned to the Prime, fumbling to cover for her not paying attention to the conversation, "My apologies, sir... I- I simply said that because..."

"Terabyte," The scarlet and cobalt Matrix-bearer chided gently, "You do not have to be afraid to say that you were distracted." At the way she sheepishly turned her optics to regard her the floor, Optimus went on, "We were discussing the prophecy regarding the forty-seven spheres' aligning, and how it seems to be referring to Earth."

She refused to look up, "I am unfamiliar with the prophecy, sir."

He handed her a datapad with an almost unnoticeable frown. "I was not aware of this... My apologies, Terabyte, I ought to have given you prior briefing."

Her servos curled around the datapad, though she still couldn't bring herself to meet any of their gazes. Especially when Bulkhead scoffed, "A likely excuse. Everyone knows the prophecies! They teach the Covenant of Primus in schools to-"

"Third frame younglings." Terabyte spat bitterly, glowering at the mech with a deeply-rooted hate burning in her blood red optics, "Since you've apparently forgotten, I watched my city burn then joined the Decepticons as an adult that vorn. So, sorry to disappoint, but while I can hack Soundwave himself, I can't tell you slag about the Covenant of Primus."

She could see in their shocked expressions that they hadn't been expecting such an outburst from her, but she didn't particularly care. The negative turn of her thoughts had crushed her good mood and left her bitter and angry with herself, with the Autobots, with the Decepticons, with everything in general.

The black and midnight blue femme scowled, allowing a low growl to sound from her engine as she roughly yanked her wrist panel open, plugging her sync cable directly into the datapad and downloading its contents quickly. Ripping it free as soon as it finished and snapping her wrist panel back in place, dimming her optics as she took a moment to process the newly inputted data.

At last she met the Prime's optics, her tone stiffly cool, her armor held flared painfully tightly, "My best conclusion at the time being would be that Megatron's presence on this planet, the Dark Energon that sustains his twisted spark, and the time of the approaching alignment are not coincidential. It is unsettling to think how the 'Lord Protector' will attempt to warp this prophecy to fit his goals. I can nearly guarantee that he will believe-"

"That it speaks to him alone." Ratchet concluded for her. She flicked an annoyed finial at being interrupted.

She sighed, shuttering her optics and massaging the base of her right finial. She needed to get away for a while. To collect her thoughts and get control of the emotional rollercoaster that was her spark.

She spoke quietly, not bothering to open her optics again, her tone showing a small amount of the stress and exhaustion she felt, "How long until the alignment is at its zenith?"

Optimus' engine gave a short hum, his voice grave, "A few days at most. It is only a matter of time."

It would seem that her much-needed escape would have to come at a later date. They had not had a lull for far too long, and all of the Autobots were as drained as she was. For now, she would simply have to try to keep ahold of herself until this new crisis was passed. They all would.


	47. One Shall Fall

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 47**

**One Shall Fall**

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**Huge thanks to my amazing reviewers for your continued reading and support! And huge thanks to my amazing beta enmused - check out her stuff!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers, the tv series Transformers: Prime, or any scenes included in the tv show. I own only my OCs and my plots and subplots.**

* * *

_She laughed at something Skyquake said, her voice still coming strangely forced as she stared out past the mech with dimmed yellow optics. Her every smile was short-lived, half-sparked, and never really reached her optics._

_Finally the green mech seated across from her at their usual table reached forward and rested his large hand over her much smaller one, ceasing his story and looking into her optics with concern, "What is wrong, Terabyte?"_

_"Nothing..." She sighed, gazing back into his deep ruby optics before looking away, "I'm just having a really rough day."_

_His engine let out a protective growl and his optics narrowed in suspicion, "Did they have you scan another dead prisoner's mind for intel?"_

_"Sky, it's for the cause." She sighed again, shuddering at the memories of pain and suffering that weren't even her own. Details always got hazy after the subject offlined; the longer they were deceased, the hazier their memories. "He just died during the interrogation from the wounds he'd sustained in the battle..." The two-wheeler didn't notice the sudden look of longing in her friend's optics, like he had something important to tell her, but couldn't. "But that isn't all that has me down..."_

_"What else then?" He prompted softly when she didn't elaborate._

_"I got a message today, saying Nightracer left with the neutrals last night..." The spy stared at Skyquake's hand enveloping her own, not really seeing, just staring off into space, "Never even said good-bye."_

_The jet hummed his sympathy, "That was the clone of the legendary sniper, right?"_

_"Yeah." She flicked an optic ridge, "She was really torn up over it, when she found out just a little bit ago. I guess it just broke her self-confidence. And now she's gone too. Just like everyone else." She smiled up at him, genuinely this time, "But I still have you. You're not going to leave me. You were my first friend here, and now you're my last. My knight in shining - well, usually shining, anyway - armor, loyal to the last."_

_His ruby optics clouded over with a mist of pain, though somehow she knew it wasn't physical. A tiny seed of worry planted itself in her spark and her beaming smile faltered before ultimately failing. Her voice wavered slightly, "Right, Sky?"_

_He gave her a sad, unfelt little smile, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "I have a shift right now, but I __**promise**__ I'll see you as soon as I'm free again... I have something I need to tell you."_

"Pass..."

"Uh-uh..."

"Kid in a costume..."

"Nope..."

"Balloons..."

Suddenly Jack twitched and had Raf scroll back up along the conspiracy site they were searching, muttering, "Uh, hold, go back."

Raf laughed, "Camera sure loves Bee."

Miko flung herself back on the couch, crossing her arms behind her head with a lazy smile, "What can you do? When you're a star, you're paparazzi bait!"

Terabyte smirked, watching the human children out of the corner of her optics from where she sat stiffly on the stairs, the datapad of Cybertronian lore and prophecies in hand. When the Prime had initially given it to her, she had only downloaded the chapter that had to do with the alignment of the forty-seven spheres. Just enough to get up to date on the matter so as to form a reasonable conclusion.

She had just spent the past two joors reading through the compilation of lore that she would have learned had the Wreckers not destroyed all hope of her obtaining a normal childhood. Under normal circumstances, she would have simply downloaded the remaining data and processed it as she found time. However, the Prime had specifically requested that she read it in this manner, so as to allow her to more fully process the information.

If she didn't know better, she would have thought the Matrix-bearer was trying to distract her from her dark and troubled musings.

"-Mars cat says, take me to your feeder!"

A gruff laugh she'd never heard before, touched her finials, but she didn't bother to look up. Raf laughed incredulously, "Ratchet just laughed?"

Jack chuckled, "Uh... Um, Optimus? Want to see something funny?"

The femme's armor was flared more than normal, and her finials were tilted back at an annoyed angle. Her frame remained heated above normal parameters, and behind her mask, her lips were quirked in a permanent scowl. She was still riled up from the previous conversation, and reading through this historical data that told of a Cybertron she'd never learned of or even known existed, was only riling her up farther.

It made her feel ignorant, under-educated, and pitiable.

The red and cobalt mech who stood tapping away with vigor at the terminal in front of him, working on some sort of research or other to try and find the Nemesis. He didn't even look up at the oldest human boy's question, saying frankly, "No."

She didn't want or need their pity. All she'd ever wanted as retribution was Ultra Magnus' helm on a pike. His and the rest of his Wreckers' too.

Her engine growled in sudden anger, and she stood up swiftly, slamming the datapad down beside her as she did. A muffled crash of the datapad's screen shattering beneath the force. Terabyte snarled as glass cut into her hand and she put her other fist up to her fore-helm for a moment, taking in deep vents to calm herself.

After a klick or two of regaining her composure, the darkly colored femme looked up at the crowd of Autobots watching her with wary expressions. She exvented harshly, sweeping up the shattered remains of her half-read datapad with a rough motion, her lips curling in annoyance as her cut hand left a thin smear of life-En where the datapad had been.

Once she'd cleaned up her mess, Terabyte inclined her helm formally to the still-staring Autobots and children, her voice soft and cold, "My apologies. This week has been wearing on us all, and I have not exercised sufficient restraint. Excuse me as I take my leave."

With that, the femme shot down the tunnel to the surface, coldly noting how none pursued after her. They all knew where she was going anyway. She'd been going more and more frequently as of late.

**Meanwhile: Brig**

He'd told her again. Again.

But she actually understood just what he was saying this time. He could see it in her perfect optics, that it had finally clicked with her, just like he'd feared it never would. His spark was singing and screaming at the same time.

He loved her.

It was nothing new to him, but at long last she understood. And knowing that made his aching spark feel so much better, just thinking about it seemed to heal all of his pains; physical, mental, and emotional all alike.

But then he had to go and shatter the moment by mentioning this Dreadwing figure that he didn't fully remember. This forgotten figure that was apparently his other half. This forgotten figure that Terabyte didn't seem very fond of at all. His stupid processors just _had_ to shatter the moment.

"Why'd you do it?"

Skyquake jerked out of his thoughts to glare at the source of his startlement. He hadn't noticed when the red mech had woken up. The jet finally shifted his gaze to the floor, for the most part ignoring the aching burn in his back.

"Why'd I do what?"

Cliffjumper rolled his optics, "Why'd you cover for me back there? That's twice now that you've done it."

The green jet laughed coldly, "So you want to ask me this _now_? Took you long enough."

"I meant to bring it up earlier, but then-"

Skyquake cut the red mech off, "But then you passed out to drool on my arm all night and when you woke up, Terabyte was there, and then we were at the trial." He sneered, "And then you got cozy with the idea of having someone to pass the blame off on to preserve your reputation among the Autobots."

The warrior sprung to his pedes, hissing as he landed hard on his silver pede and then crashing back down to the berth as the pede gave out under him. "You took the bulk of the beating for m-"

He cut the mech off again with a shrug, his expression challenging, daring the mech to deny what he was about to say. Because there was no logical way of denying it.

"You think I seriously saved your sorry aft and took responsibility for your actions for _you_?" He rolled his ruby optics, standing up and stomping across the room to tower over the mech, "How thick, how _conceited_ can you get?"

"I took the blame that was rightfully yours, because - believe it or not - I actually want to one day atone for the Pits, and for the War, and for everything else I've done in Megatron's name." Skyquake snarled at the way the mech's sky blue optics widened in surprise, "Because - believe it or not - Megatron lost my loyalties long before he lost Terabyte's, and I was a fool to accept that mission to come to Earth seven vorns and leave her alone with that warped madmech."

"So you want to know why I lied to the Prime?" He cocked an optic ridge at Cliffjumper, who still sat still on his berth, staring up at him with wide and confused optics, "I lied because look around you, Autobot. Look at this sorry team of broken, lonely, defeated mechs you all have the _audacity_ to call an army. Half-starved and without the supplies to properly repair yourselves, a group of mechs who gave up hope, and now at long last things are starting to look up. A new seed of hope has been planted and your ranks are filling out again."

"You finally are getting full rations again, you have three human children who admire you and show you that there are still things worth fighting for, and you have new recruits who are seeking redemption, showing that anyone can change for the better." Skyquake flicked a wing with a grimace at the sting caused by the action. Already he could feel the bruised protoform healing far faster than normal. "Cliffjumper, for the first time in vorns, the Autobots are daring to hope that this war might actually end. Then we go and offline a mech with more brutality than any of us have seen for a while, threatening this newfound hope."

"Here you are, a decently high-ranked, well-loved, integral part of the Autobots. And then there's this Decepticon defector who's hated by most all of you for killing your friends and who's been shown more leniency than is wise or just." The large green fighter shrugged, sitting back down on his berth. "If you were them, which of the two of us would you actually be _relieved_ to see punished more? Which of us - being declared the instigator - would give a shaken team a much-needed sense of continuity and stability?"

Cliffjumper averted his gaze for a moment, knowing that he could say nothing to honestly deny the facts that had just been laid out to him. Skyquake smirked, sitting up and stretching his spine with a grimace as his plating rubbed on the new welts. He could feel the damage; he'd gotten so that he could give a medical report on himself just by how it felt. The welts would be gone in no longer than an orn.

He jerked his chin up at the red mech across the brig, grunting, "You'll want to do the same, believe me. Not good to let the protoform heal stiff."

The Autobot did as advised, groaning as he held back a roar. Cliffjumper caught his optics and looked away again. "I've not been a very good example of how Autobots are supposed to be since you defected, have I?"

He just stared at the red mech, his expression unmoved. An optic ridge slowly rose in question.

"I mean, I've been a jerk to you. I've been a jerk to Terabyte for a good portion of the time too, which is basically still being a jerk to you." Cliffjumper sighed, "Not to mention convincing you to go gallivanting off to kill Blitz."

"Blitzwing." Skyquake rumbled, giving a scornful huff, "Not that I needed to be asked twice."

"That's not the point. I'm supposed to be an _Autobot_!" The red mech shouted, "I'm supposed to seek peaceful solutions wherever possible, not seek the blood of our enemies for sport!"

"I was a _Pit-fighter_, Cliffjumper." He spat, rising from his berth to push his servo into the Autobot warrior's face where the mech had risen in his rage, "You think what we did out there was despicable? You think what we did out _there_ will take vorns to atone for? Not long ago, I would have called that a _mercy_ kill."

"That doesn't make it right!" Cliffjumper yelled, attempting to shove the much larger fighter jet away.

"You're right!" He roared, towering a good head and shoulders over the mech, waiting for his words to click in the red warrior's mind before going on, "It doesn't make it right. It doesn't even make it better. But for the first time in my life, here with the same mechs I've battled for decavorns, I can dare to hope that I _can_ atone for what I've done. It will take a life-time, but if I can eventually be an Autobot, I will be _able _to redeem myself."

"Do you realize how that feels? To have hope of being someone better for the first time?" Skyquake shook his helm minutely, "Yes, we were wrong. We were despicable. But we can strive to be better. We are in a place where we are _encouraged_ to be better. And as long as every day, we're better people than we were the day before, we win."

**Meanwhile.**

She stared up at the canopy of leaves overhead, taking in a deep vent of air as she listened carefully. Not to anything in particular, just listening. Terabyte could feel the peace and calm in the atmosphere seeping into her and soothing her troubled spark.

The small femme crouched down in the center of the forest, reaching down and grabbing a handful of the tiny pine needles that blanketed the forest's floor, muffling the sounds of the creatures that inhabited it. She shifted slowly to sit down properly, making sure to not disturb the organic inhabitants that had grown accustomed to her presence.

Birds were chirping and singing all around her, and the sunlight sprinkled down through the leaves in clear, sparkling rays that warmed her frame with their soft caress. She sighed.

She had allowed the stresses of recent events to get to her. Normally that didn't happen. She needed to get a grip on herself. She had too much to be thankful for to allow such stress and lack of self-control to take root.

The two-wheeler fingered the Autobot insignia at her belt with a small smile behind her mask. Redemption was possible, with this insignia and the cause it stood for. The cause she'd always thought she was fighting for. For peace and freedom for all Cybertronians, a world without hate, prejudice, and pointless violence.

It was a lot to hope for.

"But maybe it isn't too much?"

Terabyte started at the little voice replying to thoughts she hadn't meant to voice and looked around, searching for the source as she rose to a crouching position with her fusion cannon ready. Then she looked down beside her and saw a little human girl sitting casually next to where she'd been sitting, seemingly unconcerned by the giant - to her - metal alien with a charged cannon.

The midnight navy and black femme sat back down slowly, watching the girl with a small amount of bewilderment. She powered down her cannon and shifting so that she was seated cross-legged and relaxing her armor to look less threatening. Not that the golden haired child was worried.

"You're smiling, but you're sad, but you're also happy." The little girl stated finally.

She judged the child to be no more than eight years of age. Terabyte reached up to touch her mask, confirming that it was still in place. Her puzzled frown deepened. Her processors informed her that she'd met the girl before, and after a moment's thought, she recalled where from. But there was no way the child would recognize her. She'd been in alt-mode for the whole encounter.

"I saw you at school last year.'' The girl went on cheerfully, "You're that really cool bike, aren't you?"

The femme nodded slowly, debating whether or not she should comm. one of the Autobots to let them know she'd been sought out by a human child.

The girl grinned, punching the air joyously, "Knew it!" She cocked her head at Terabyte before saying, "Hey, don't remember if I told you my name last time, but I'm Taia. What's your name?"

"Terabyte."

"Tera Byte. Okay, cool." Taia grinned up at her briefly before her smile went solemn, "Why are you so sad?"

Terabyte regarded the girl with curiosity, "What makes you think I'm sad?"

"Cause you are."

The femme stared down at the little girl, frowning deeply in thought. Nothing about this girl was quite normal, and yet she could see nothing unusual about her. For all appearance, the gold haired girl in a green knee-length plaid skirt and t-shirt was just your average eight-year-old fleshling.

"Your eyes are really, really sad way down." Taia explained quietly.

"Where are your parents, Taia?" She asked finally, just wanting to take the subject off of herself for a while. The girl's insight was uncanny and it was beginning to make the femme uncomfortable.

"Oh. They aren't here right now..." The girl looked down at the pine needles beside her with a small smile. "They went away when I was really little. I can take you to them if you want?"

"No, no..." Terabyte shook her helm gently, resting a softly restraining hand on the child, who had moved to lead on to her parents. "I... I need me to be our little secret, okay Taia? Can you keep me a secret... for me?"

Taia beamed up at her, her fleshy optics twinkling, "Silly. My parents went away. They won't tell anyone about you, Ms. Byte, they can keep our secret. Besides, you can use your fake-you, if you're really worried." Her expression turned nearly comically stern, "But you _have_ to bring flowers. I won't take you if you don't bring flowers. And they _have _to be real."

The bemused femme smiled at the child, activating her holoform and grabbing the girl's hand in her own. She blinked and looked around through the holoform's green eyes for a minute to get her bearings. "Alright, I can go with you. And we can pick flowers on the way, okay?"

"Yep!" The girl bounced on her feet before yanking on Terabyte's hand, skipping along towards Jasper.

True to her word, Terabyte and the little girl stopped and gathered daisies and dandelions as they went. Not once did the strange child stop her glowing chatter. One would think the little girl hadn't had good company in months. Every now and then, Taia would reprove her for thinking it necessary to use her 'fake-self', and every now and then, the girl would bring up her inner sadness.

But keeping the girl distracted from unpleasant topics was easy enough to do.

A huge flash of purple in the distance caught her optics, tearing her attention from the little girl to bring her gaze to the horizon, towards the highway from the base. Her holoform froze as the femme stood up in the forest glade and looked around with worry. She was reading a massive Energon spike coming from where the flash of light had been.

Frowning, she returned her attention to her holoform just in time to see Megatron fly over Taia with a scream of engines and the roar of charged guns. She hugged the golden haired little girl close to her holoform, watching the warlord's flight. Thankfully, the warlord's attention seemed to be placed on some other goal.

Even more thankfully, he didn't see her frame standing distracted and helpless in the center of the forest.

She held the girl out at arm's length, glancing up at the sky with worry. "Taia, I can't go see your parents with you today. I need you to go home as fast as you can. Don't go anywhere except home. Promise me you'll go straight home."

"O-okay... What's wrong? Who was that jet?" Taia asked, Terabyte's voiced concern causing the girl to worry. "Do you know him? Are you in trouble?"

"I'll be fine, Taia. Just promise me you'll go home, okay?"

The girl nodded firmly, her tone confident, "Promise. See you later! Maybe I'll come to your place next time."

Watching the little girl walk down the road towards Jasper, Terabyte waited until she'd gone around a city block before letting her holoform fizzle out.

_/Ratchet, what is going on? I just saw Megatron air-strike someone up the highway and fly off the horizon./ _She commed, tagging an urgency code to bring it to his attention at a higher priority.

_/I don't know what Megatron's up to, but it can't be good./ _Ratchet's glyphs were quickly sprawled and minorly distracted. _/They're building a space bridge. He has the plasma injector and injector coils, the neutron shield, the *Tesseract... Prime has a team at a power plant in Texas keeping them from getting a power source./_

She pursed her lips, scowling as she transformed and sped off towards the blast point as fast as she could get her engines to go, ignoring the humans that screamed as she sped down the highway. She was going fast enough that none of them would have been capable of noticing her lack of a driver.

Arriving at the blast point, the femme flipped up out of her alt-mode and landed crouched down in the center of a very large black ring of ash and energy weapons' residue. Running a brief scan on it, Terabyte frowned. There were traces of Dark-En in the ash.

With the right technology, she would likely be able to discover who the target had been. Seeing as she didn't have that technology, the femme filled a small vial with ashes and stood up, glancing up into the sky, just in case.

She had made it very clear that she was no longer a part of the Decepticon cause.

Last time, they had taken in her in and twisted her memories. Who knew what they would do to her if they captured her again.

_/Ratchet, I am on my way back to base. I have a sample of the residue from the blast I saw... it shows trace elements of Dark Energon./_

_/Rafael's been hurt, I'm sending a bridge./_

Moments later a portal swirled to life in front of her. Glancing around one last time, Terabyte darted through, running into the base, straight toward the med-bay.

Rafael lay pale and motionless, dwarfed on the huge, Cybertronian-sized berth. Purple rings had formed under the boy's closed eyes. A quick scan showed the boy's vitals to be critically low and only getting worse.

"Rafael is not responding..." Ratchet muttered, pacing back and forth by his tool shelves, "We need to run a full diagnostic on his assemblage- eh, vital statistics."

The medic roared in frustration, "My tools are all _wrong_!"

Glass shattered beneath the wrench as the medic slammed it into one of the cooling cabinets. Very calmly considering the situation, Jack pulled out his phone and said firmly, "We need to call my mom."

"Your mother may be a nurse, but does she know anything about the effects of Energon on the human body?!" Ratchet snapped, his vents heaving as he plainly started to panic as Raf's vitals dropped a little further. "Wh-"

"Do _you _know anything about the _human body_?" The eldest human retorted, dialing his mother's number and pressing it to his ear, "Mom, Raf's hurt... It's urgent!"

The short call finished, Jack looked up at the two Cybertronians, his face squished up in worry. "She's on her way."

Terabyte ran a scan over Raf again. She scowled, "Ratchet, how was he hurt?"

"Megatron." The medic said, letting out a grave sigh, "Raf was in Bumblebee's cab when he was attacked with an Energon ray. The ray's effects must have spread to him."

"No..." She whispered, touching the back of one servo to the boy's feverish face. Rising to look Ratchet in the optics, Terabyte held up the ash sample she'd collected from the blast site. "Ratchet, there were traces of Dark Energon in the residue of the blast... Raf is not just infected with Energon - which is harmful enough to humans - he's infected with Dark Energon."

"It would seem we are all out of our league here." Jetfire commented quietly from where he had left off from his work on the synth-En formula to watch the sick child.

After the longest five klicks Terabyte had ever gone through, the screech of an earth vehicle slamming on its brakes on the glossy concrete reverberated in the chamber.

Jack ran out to meet her, saying, "Thanks, M-"

Not taking any time for pleasantries, the woman was clearly all business now, "Grab my bag!"

The woman ran to where Raf lay, looking over him quickly, checking his pulse with swift, practiced movements. Within moments, June had a portable hospitable set up around the unconscious boy.

"Measuring the rate and extent of absorption should determine the proper course of treatment-" Ratchet started to suggest.

Cutting him off with an authoritative tone that left no room for debate, Nurse Darby said, "If I don't get this boy stabilized _now_, he's not going to make it off this table alive. Do you understand me?"

"You heard the femme, get the med-bay cleared, now." Terabyte ordered, not bothering to acknowledge that she didn't actually have the authority to do so. Not long after, she heard a crash of metal on concrete.

"How may I be of further assistance, Nurse Darby?" The spy questioned quietly, not wanting to disturb the woman's work.

"Unless you can transform into a life-support pod, or have some other method of sustaining his vitals, the best you can do it stay out of my way." The woman snapped back, still working busily over the boy.

Wincing behind her mask at the nurse's tone, Terabyte let her armor tighten around her slightly in fear for her little human friend. "I have a form of regenerative scan that enhances existing cellular repair and reproduction that would serve to sustain and strengthen his respiratory and circulatory systems."

"Great. Use it."

Doing as ordered, the small femme activated the optical implant and set her systems to sweep the healing rays over the boy, her red optics brightening substantially as she did so. It would not be able to prevent or even slow the spread of the Dark Energon in his blood, but it would at the very least strengthen the boy's bodily defenses and prolong his life until Ratchet and Nurse Darby were able to find a cure.

If they even could.

"It is too soon to know." Ratchet said in response to an unheard communique, most likely from the Prime. He huffed, "Not mine, Optimus."

"Curse my Cybertronian pride." The mech sighed, his tone indicating that he blamed himself for Raf's danger, "We've accepted these humans into our life, yet I bothered to learn so little of their science or medicine."

The red and white medic glanced back at Raf, who was still being bathed in the regenerative red light of her optical scanning. "And I have grown to need him."

Terabyte's optics flickered, briefly interrupting her scan. A warning popped up on her HUD, telling her what she already knew, which was that the optical ray was not meant to be held in constant use for long periods of time. The energy requirements that the frequency called for were taxing her systems, draining her power at a rapid, steady rate.

She sat down shakily on the edge of the med-bay berth, taking care to keep the healing light on the pale, unconscious boy. His breathing was getting weaker, and the human spark monitor beside him beeped erratically, suggesting his spark pulse was inconsistent.

"Jack, help me get Raf into the car." Mrs. Darby called calmly, her tone beginning to show a portion of her worry, "He's going to the emergency room."

Ratchet shook his helm, holding out a restraining hand, "Nurse Darby, your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's afflicting him - not without a decade of study."

"At least." Jetfire put in crisply, "Your kind are quite amazingly primitive; it is quite fascinating, actually."

One hard glare from the midnight navy and black femme quickly silenced the older scientist. June sighed, "I don't have time to argue."

"The effects of an Energon blast on an Autobot can be devastating enough, but this is a human." Ratchet muttered, repeating what they all already knew. "Especially with this being Dark Energon... I hate to admit it, but I am too far out of my professional league for comfort."

"The Dark Energon appears to be taking over and mutating the organic's blood to better support it." Jetfire muttered, staring through Ratchet's microscope at a blood sample he had apparently acquired without their noticing. "The methods being used are ingenious, and the Dark Energon is only growing stronger the more resistance it faces. Fascinating."

"The 'organic' is our friend!" Miko shouted indignantly, kicking the white jet's foot futilely.

"If Dark Energon is devouring Raf from the inside out, we must expel it and fast: the only possible way I know how." The medic said firmly, digging through his supplies until he found the life-En extractor syringe. "I need Energon."

"W-wait." Jack said, holding up his hands, "I thought you said processed Energon was devastating to humans?"

Terabyte's optics at the Autobot medic's plan as she continued running the regenerative frequency. "It is. Ratchet, this is not safe, and it will not be without consequences."

The medic glared right back at her, "_Under_ normal circumstances, yes. But I am relying upon the dark matter _currently_ invading Rafael's body to meet it head on."

She stood up shakily, ignoring the protests on her HUD that demanded she stop the abnormal power drain. She was already down to fifty percent and her helm ached behind her optics. Ratchet had already drawn a syringe full of Bumblebee's life-En and was prepping the CR chamber. "The two will not cancel each other out completely; there could still be severe side effects! I cannot and will not allow you to do this, Medic. We have no idea how Energon _or_ Dark Energon will affect the human body, and we _definitely_ have no idea what a _combination_ of the two will do!"

_"And Rafael doesn't have time for you to argue with me!"_ Ratchet roared back, drowning out the frantic yelling of the humans as they moved Raf into the cryo-regeneration chamber.

Before Terabyte could say or do anything to stop him, the medic injected Bumblebee's life-En into the CR chamber and clamped the doors shut with Raf on a human medical berth inside.

The chamber whirred to life, the high-frequency squeal of its engines escalating in intensity until the sound had the two-wheeler doubling over and holding on to her highly-sensitive finials to block it out. It was likely that no one else present could even hear it. Suddenly as the screeching reached its peak, a brilliant flash of white light filled the room for a klick before fading out, leaving everyone present blinking and rebooting their optics.

As Terabyte was still recovering from the audial piercing scream of the oddly modified CR chamber, Nurse Darby ran in and stood by Raf's side, checking his pulse and wiping his hair from his pale, sweaty face. She ran in to watch the boy with concern and hope, just in time to hear a soft sigh from him.

June smiled faintly, letting out a relieved sigh of her own, "Pulse is stabilizing."

Raf struggled to open his eyes, looking up at his yellow guardian with a weak smile, his voice wavering as he said, "Bee?"

The scout whirled and blipped in an exultant, meaningless string of clicks and beeps before saying, **"Raf! Thank the Allspark you're okay!"**

Terabyte ran yet another quick scan of her own on the boy, her ruby optics narrowing. His over all vitals had altered themselves minutely, and if she wasn't mistaken, his DNA didn't look _exactly_ the same. She could easily just be misreading her scans or she could have faulty sensory data. It was very possible, given how little she understood human physiology.

But she had a nagging suspicion in her spark that that was not the case.

"Optimus, we did it." Ratchet said quietly, actually genuinely smiling.

She shook her helm, pressing cool servos to the side of her aching helm; instantly attracting the medic's attention. Not bothering to try to escape the medic's care, the two-wheeler sat down on the medical berth with a sigh.

"Terabyte, your audial array is damaged and you're showing signs of a rapid energy drain. Too rapid to be healthy." His scolding tone was softer than normal, most likely an effect of Raf's recovery. "That regen-ray was not meant to be sustained long-term, was it."

The femme shuttered her optics, knowing the medic already knew the answer to that. "I'm fine. I will adapt and recover."

"That's what you do, isn't it. Adapt."

Her gaze shot up to stare at the medic's sharp tone in question. "I do not believe I quite understand what you-"

"No, you wouldn't." Again the mech's bitterness shocked her, causing her brow to furrow in confusion as he went on, "You exceeded your boundaries, Terabyte."

"I was wrong to attempt to give you orders in the manner that I did." She apologized easily, meeting the medic's gaze with her own determined optics. "_However_, I do not regret my actions, nor do I revoke my afore stated opinions. This will not be the last of this incident, Ratchet, and you are not half the medic I hold you to be if you cannot see that this will have consequences."

"There are no more signs of Energon in Rafael's blood-stream." Ratchet replied firmly, his tone declaring the end of the discussion, "He is cured."

She slapped away the medic's hand as he reached to take a closer look at her still-ringing audials, "I scanned him! His vitals and his very _DNA_ have been altered!"

_"Well within acceptable parameters!"_ The medic yelled at her, his turquoise optics blazing.

"Do you even know what 'acceptable parameters' are for fluctuations in human genetic structure?!" She countered, pushing herself to her pedes in spite of the larger mech's attempts to prevent her, "You may have the _science_, but _I _have the _math._ The _math _that says there is no way in _this galaxy or the next_ that pumping a human full of highly processed Dark and regular Energon - _well-established to be __**lethal**__ to organic life - _will go without _major_ repercussions!"

Outside of the med-bay where they were having their heated debate, Terabyte heard Jetfire mutter something along the lines of there being some minor disagreements to hammer out. Physically -given the 'older fellow's' reputation. It also sounded as though Bulkhead had bridged in.

_"I DON"T CARE about your __**math **__or your __**repercussions**__!" _The medic bellowed, making the tiny femme's armor clamp down tight as she involuntarily cringed away from the brandished wrench that had seemed to materialize in Ratchet's hand. "You are a _defector_, whose calculations are _flawed_, and you would do well to _shut your mouth and remember your __**place**__!_"

She trembled under the mech's rage, her armor pressed into her frame and her arms stretching up into a defensive position as against her will she braced herself for the blows that seemed so close.

"Yes, Medic." She whispered faintly, her scarlet optics now gazing up at the mech with trepidation.

He blinked, and then his whole demeanor melted down, leaving a weary, reconciliatory medic with a deep sadness behind his optics. Terabyte went painfully stiff as Ratchet wrapped her in an apologetic embrace, mumbling, "I'm sorry..."

As he stroked the back of her helm as though she were a frightened sparkling, the two-wheeler didn't relax in any way, her aching finials taking in the soft words of apology and comfort that the medic was mumbling repeatedly. At last when he seemed to realize that she was not going to relax, Ratchet stepped away with his helm down and his armor slack.

"I'm sorry." He repeated quietly.

"I know." Terabyte replied just as quietly, her tone still icy and unforgiving. "I am not. This decision will _not_ come without a price, and I dread the day that we learn what that price will be."

* * *

_***The Tessaract! I know, right? But seriously, it's canon! My sister and I had a serious fit of fangirling over that one; had to go back and replay that sentence just to be sure when we watched the episode...**_

_**Just a reminder, my Duty and Deceit updates will remain bi-weekly due to writing two stories at once.**_

**_Fav, follow, and review - it spurs my author's will and keeps the writer's block at bay! - and I'll see you all again next update!_**


	48. One Shall Rise pt 1

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 48**

**One Shall Rise Part 1**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers.**

**Huge thanks to my amazing sister-beta enmused! As always, read, review, and enjoy, because your feedback truly is what keeps me going - the more the better! Also, feel free to check out my second story, A Race Through the Night, which is why this story is now updated every other week, rather than weekly. Thank-you all!**

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_She stared up at the inky, moonless sky with a heavy sigh where she stood leaning against the railing on the roof. The highest point in the sector. Skyquake had promised he'd meet her here as soon as his shift finished. According to her rosters, his shift had finished a couple breems ago. And yet here she sat alone in the forgotten roof top with nothing but her wild imaginings of what he would say for company._

_It is a dangerous thing when one's best friend refuses to answer when asked to confirm their friendship. _

_She'd asked him to reassure her that he wouldn't leave her alone when everyone else had. He'd evaded the question, pulling the classic 'I have a shift' excuse._

_The door behind her hissed open, causing the spy to go stiff. Instinct said to whirl around with her dagger brandished, but she knew the mech's EM field and pede-fall by spark. She didn't have to look at him to know he was flustered, sheepish, and hesitant._

_Finally she turned around, lowering her mask with a soft smile, "Hey, mech."_

_Skyquake smiled back at her, his smile somehow even weaker than hers. "Hey."_

_They both turned back to hanging on the rail, staring up blankly at the dark, unfriendly sky that had become normal for their drifting planet. She missed seeing the three moons in the night's sky. They had been a comfort to her. A constant, unchanging reminder of hope. _

_After nearly half a groon of the tensely awkward silence broken only by the sound of Skyquake's nervous shuffling, the femme spoke out quietly, "So."_

_"So..." The mech repeated slowly before flicking his wings in annoyance at himself. Turning to face her, he gestured for her to hold out her hands._

_Doing as asked, she cocked an optic ridge at him in question as he pulled something from his subspace and slipped them onto her forearms, gently clasping them into place. "It isn't much, but..."_

_She looked down at the intricately designed gold filigree bracers with a smile tinged with sadness as her suspicions were confirmed by the gift. "They're beautiful, Sky..."_

_She sighed and shuttered her optics as she tilted her helm down, her finials flicking agitatedly before settling at a despondent angle. "You're leaving, aren't you."_

_"I've been chosen for a classified, long-term operation..." His expression was desperately, pleading for her to understand, even though he knew that she would. He had taught her well in the matter. _

_Duty was duty, and not a thing to be trifled with._

_"Just answer me this, Skyquake, and answer me honestly." The Prussian blue femme said firmly, her jaw set, "Does this have to do with your twin?"_

_"No." He seemed hurt that she would think such a thing, but his answer came swift as ever, without a moment's hesitation. "Megatron called me in personally two quartex ago, informing that I'd been selected for this mission. It's- it's off-world, a-and I don't know how long I'll be gone..."_

_The dim night's light sparkled on the coolant in his optics, the sight of which frightened the young femme. Her optic ridges drawing up and together in distress, she looked down at her hands that the green fighter still held tightly in his grasp. _

_Coolant forming in her own golden optics, the femme's voice was hardly more than a whisper, "When?"_

_"The ship leaves first joor... Tomorrow."_

_At his words, the resolve the femme had held stubbornly on to crumbled and she fell against him sobbing as he wrapped his arms around her and began tentatively humming the childhood song her parents had sung with her so often. She'd taught it to him not long ago. As he hummed, she tried to force the familiar words from her mind, tried to ignore the message they held that seemed to tear her spark to shreds._

_Ages come and ages go,_

_Sparks of loved ones, _

_Sparks of kin,_

_Never lost, they live within,_

_Each of our sparks!_

_"Sky..." She gazed up into her friend's ruby optics reproachfully through the mist of tears, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"_

_His engine hitched in pain as his optics pleaded her forgiveness, "I didn't want to hurt you... I was waiting for the right time..."_

_"And the right time was the night before you leave?"_

_"I- I am a fool, Terabyte." Skyquake hugged her a little closer, staring out at the sky over her helm. "I'm so, so sorry..."_

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"Why'd you cover for me back there?"**

**The large green fighter shrugged, sitting back down on his berth. "If you were them, which of the two of us would you actually be **_**relieved**_** to see punished more? ... Yes, we were wrong. We were despicable. But we can strive to be better. We are in a place where we are **_**encouraged**_** to be better. And as long as every day, we're better people than we were the day before, we win."**

**"No, no..." Terabyte shook her helm gently, resting a softly restraining hand on the child, who had moved to lead on to her parents. "I... I need me to be our little secret, okay Taia? Can you keep me a secret... for me?"**

_**"I DON"T CARE about your math or your repercussions!" **_**The medic bellowed, making the tiny femme's armor clamp down tight as she involuntarily cringed away from the brandished wrench that had seemed to materialize in Ratchet's hand. "You are a **_**defector**_**, whose calculations are **_**flawed**_**, and you would do well to **_**shut your mouth and remember your **_**place**_**!"**_

**"I'm sorry."**

**"I know." Terabyte replied just as quietly, her tone still icy and unforgiving. "I am not. This decision will **_**not**_** come without a price, and I dread the day that we learn what that price will be."**

Terabyte knelt beside Raf's soft berth, watching him with gentle optics, surreptitiously running another scan over the boy. Stroking the boy's helm with one tender servo, the spy stood up and left the med-bay abruptly.

_Your eyes are really, really sad way down._

She frowned minutely. The little girl had found her and recognized her instantly, though she'd only ever seen her alt-mode. Not to mention that she now had a completely different paint job than when the child had first met her. The Autobots were supposed to be a secret from the human populace, and yet she'd allowed herself to be located by yet another of the nosy little fleshlings.

Already they had made an exception for five humans, three of whom were children. That exception had put their lives at risk. Any human who had contact with Cybertronians was endangered. She had, unwillingly or not, put Taia's life at risk. As such, it was her duty to protect the young child.

Optimus would need to know about this strange child.

However, given that the Prime had directly ordered that they make no contact with humans, Terabyte couldn't help but fear what sort of reprimanding she would be given. For the time being though, her punishment depended upon Team Prime - which had just left - returning safely with the Prime.

Without the Prime to hold them all together and in line with the cause, the Autobots would be lost.

Just then the ground bridge burst open again to let in a limping leader and the other bots running with their blasters pointed at the closing portal.

Ratchet ran up instantly to begin running scans on the Prime with his scowl firmly in place as the Prime tried to wave him off, groaning as his many wounds protested.

"Easy, Optimus." The medic rumbled, helping Bumblebee and Arcee lower the mech down on the steel bench, "From the looks of things, you've been exposed to massive amounts of Dark Energon."

"I am not the only one." Optimus replied softly, watching Nurse Darby roll Raf in to see everyone.

"Hey." Raf said weakly, smiling up at the weakened Prime.

Nurse Darby scowled at the Matrix-bearer, disregarding greetings, rank, and respect - as allowed by her role as Medic - and choosing instead to glare at them all, "He's lucky to be alive, Optimus."

Terabyte's crimson optics narrowed as she returned to her place kneeling beside Raf. She couldn't agree with the human femme more, yet the piercingly accusatory glare that June directed at her was unnerving.

She wasn't just blaming Optimus for Raf's hurt, June was blaming all Cybertronians. She had a right to. To be perfectly honest, Terabyte suspected that the reason the Autobots were staying in hiding was very valid. Organizations like MECH were only the beginning. If the humans knew about their presence here, and that they were responsible for things like the destruction of Moscow, the bombings in Texas, the highway demolitions across the globe...

The humans had every right to hunt them down until all Cybertronians either left or perished.

They shouldn't have brought their war to this planet. They all should have stopped when Cybertron died. Was one planet's demise not enough for them?

Cybertronians as a race, Autobot and Decepticon, were fighting to avenge the wrongs that another did to avenge the wrongs of another. Their race was caught in a loop of vengeance. A loop that had been cycling over for six millenia.

Miko's next incredulous words tore Terabyte from her musings, "The Cons killed a Unicorn?"

Everyone in the room froze to stare at the girl standing at the bottom of the staircase. Terabyte briefly searched the term 'unicorn' on the internet and had to work hard not to laugh. As it were, she was very glad for her battle mask covering the amused grin that had slid onto her face.

The pink-haired girl blinked and then went on to describe the creature in question, making motions depicting each feature as she went, "White horse with a horn on its head?"

"Prances around all sparkly?" She wiggled her hands in emphasis of the 'sparkly'.

Ratchet, recovering first, corrected, "Uni-_cron_. An ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter we call Dark Energon. As legend would have it."

Nurse Darby, looking incredibly skeptical, leaned to one pede, her hand on her hip, "So you're saying this 'Unicron' is some sort of boogey-man?"

"Boogey-man?"

"Creepy guy who hides in your closet?" Miko prompted helpfully. Her expression suggested she was quite enjoying the discussion.

She scowled, sensing something in the medic woman's posture and tone that she was about ready to make her end-game play. The woman was still plainly shaken up over the experience of saving Raf, and even more plainly dissatisfied with the medical care they were able to provide him. Terabyte watched on in silence, wanting to know how the Autobots would deal with the woman. She should have warned them of the precarious situation, but she didn't.

It was not her place to judge how they dealt with those under their charge. And at this point, she wasn't entirely convinced that the woman wasn't right to want to get away from them and their war. War was no place for children.

She of all bots would know.

"No, Nurse Darby." Ratchet said grimly, "Unicron is very real. Was..." The medic paused and glared at an empty point of space for a moment before starting over, "That is, well, I do believe he once existed... I just don't subscribe to the theory that his primordial essence is what harmed Raf."

"That would, however, appear to be the most viable theory at present!" Jetfire put in cheerfully from where he remained in the medical bay, running tests of some sort or other on Raf's blood.

"I've heard enough." June declared firmly, pushing Raf's berth towards her car, "Jack, help me get Raf into the car."

The eldest human boy looked hesitant, glancing up at Ratchet with concern, "Mom, I thought you said he was doing better."

She simply glared up at the red and white medic, saying harshly, "Raf needs to be examined by _real_ doctors. And Raf's family needs to know what's happened." The nurse swung her icy glower over Terabyte, Bumblebee, and Optimus, "His _real_ family."

Terabyte went stiff under the woman's gaze, her spark twinging at the sting of her words. Jack put a hand up to his mother's shoulder, his gray blue eyes pleading, "Mom, his family can't protect Raf. Not like they can."

Because we've done such an amazing job of that so far, the midnight navy femme thought darkly, nodding slightly to the woman to show her support of the decision. Humans were too soft, too fragile, to be kept among them. Even in peaceful times, the sheer size difference would pose a high risk. But this was too much. They had pushed too far, bringing these fleshling sparklings into their war.

"June," Optimus rumbled, groaning faintly as he shakily rose to his pedes, limping over to where the woman had pushed Raf's cart. "It deeply grieves me that I have failed. But I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends and any other human_ ever _again."

"What if that isn't enough?" Terabyte asked quietly, not expecting anyone to be listening to her.

The woman in mint colored clothing met her ruby optics with something close to a grateful respect before she turned to the Prime, "Optimus, they are _children_. They do not _belong_ in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom dates, _pimples_ \- **not** their own survival!"

"Mom, Dark Energon is pouring out of the center of the Earth." Jack protested, "It doesn't _do _that."

"Well apparently it is does." Terabyte muttered snarkily, her attempt to restrain herself only partially successful.

The news report in the back ground continued to list all the different catastrophes across the globe, all involving earthquakes and mysterious appearances of what they were calling radioactive amethyst. The news reporters' voices were only growing more frightened as the hours went by.

"This could be about _everyone's _survival, Mom. Not just ours." The tall, dark-haired boy concluded firmly, willing his carrier to understand.

"You're coming with me," June replied adamantly, leaving no room for debate, "All three of you." Glaring at the all Cybertronians present again, she clarified, "And they are _not_ coming back."

Optimus' cobalt optics were tinged with sadness and regret, but he nodded regally. "I understand and respect your decision Nurse Darby."

She watched with soft optics as they loaded Raf into the car along with the rest of the medical supplies June had brought to help save Raf's life.

Miko glared up at Optimus indignantly, "So that's it? After all we've been through: 'See ya'? What about _our_ freedom to choose?"

"That may fly on their planet, but not here on Earth." Jack's mother stated decisively, "Get in."

The Asian girl scoffed, crossing her arms defiantly, "Do you _really_ expect me to ride in a _non_-transforming vehicle?"

"Miko, I'm serious."

"So am I." The girl retorted bluntly. "You're not my mother."

"Miko..." Bulkhead started to say, only to be interrupted by an annoyed look from his charge as she cut him off with a sharp, "Neither are you!"

June looked like she wanted to object, but knew that she had no power over the rebellious foster girl. Finally she growled lightly and glared at her son, "Well I am yours. Let's go, Jack."

He glanced up at his guardian with a conflicted expression on his face, depicting the internal war going on. Arcee looked shattered as she muttered, "She _is_ your mom."

The other two-wheeler's words elicited a reaction quite opposite to what she meant. Jack set his jaw and said quietly, not looking at his carrier, "I'm staying... I'm sorry."

His mother seemed to wilt at his words, betrayal shining in her hazel eyes as she shut Raf's door and got in the car, starting the engine quickly. Watching the woman with a sorrowful gaze, Optimus said, "Ratchet, activate the ground bridge."

Already rolling off towards the tunnel, the nurse replied with an angry, yet polite, "No, thank-you."

Terabyte sighed deeply, glancing at the two depressed human children left behind before straightening stiffly and bowing slightly to the Prime as she turned on her heel and strode down the hall towards the mess hall. She was not needed here, and frankly, she did not want to be here any longer than she was needed.

Stopping in the mess hall, the femme prepared three cubes of Energon; one large, one medium, and one small. Then she headed towards the brig with swift pede-fall, her mask up and armor flared more than normal in agitation.

It would seem that she would spending much of her spare time with their detained warriors.

She swung into the brig and pulled down the force field with a rapid dance of her servos. She shifted nervously when she noticed the posturing of the two mechs inside. Taking a skillfully silent step forward, the femme's optic ridges pulled together in curiosity before her optics brightened in a pleased surprise.

Seated across from one another on the larger of the two berths, Skyquake and Cliffjumper sat fully focused on the game they were playing. There were four levels to the crystal board, each one divided into a grid. On each level were several holographic images, and at the base of the board was a keyboard for each player.

The rules to the game were quite similar to the human game of chess, only far more complex, and with parts that resembled many other games, and parts that were distinctly Cybertronian only.

She cocked her helm and involuntarily drew nearer to observe, jumping back in shock when Skyquake suddenly roared, slamming his hand on his knee. Across from him, Cliffjumper grinned victoriously, "That, my friend, is what is I like to call getting Cliffjumped."

"That play should have been suicide!" The green jet protested angrily, though his expression and restrained laughter gave away the falsity of it.

Cliffjumper wiggled his optic ridges, still grinning smugly, "I know. But you're the one who now owes me twenty credits."

Skyquake flicked the red mech a couple of credits with a begrudging grumble, "Not like they're actually useful anyway."

As he tossed the last of the credits over, Terabyte almost instinctively reached out and snatched them from the air seconds before Cliffjumper could. Examining the shiny surface for a moment, she moved to drop them in the red mech's hand.

"Keep 'em, Short Stuff." Cliffjumper said with a disturbingly eager grin. "You'll need them for when I stomp you guys next round."

She cocked her helm in silent question.

"Technically, it's a two-player game, but you can team up with big, green, and ugly over here." He only grinned wider at Skyquake's indignant rumble, "After all, we need to even the odds before your mech-friend runs out of credits."

Terabyte smirked, wriggling onto the berth beside Skyquake and examining the restarted board with all the pieces laid out in their starting positions. She'd only ever played once before, with her mentor, Makeshift. Only he had been cheating the whole time, and no amount of protesting would make him stop. Which was why after that game - which had left her broke and likely would have left her hungry if it weren't for Skyquake - she hadn't played the game again.

"I don't know... He may be better off without me." She grinned up at the green jet, though her mask remained in its place.

"Never." He said seriously before smiling casually and continuing, "If nothing else, you'll spare me having no one but this grinning glitch for company."

She shrugged lightly, "Your loss. However, I feel compelled to remind you that last time I played this game, you ended up buying my meals for a quartex afterwards."

Skyquake pulled on an expression of shock, "I did? Since I normally bought most of your meals anyway, I must not have noticed!"

Terabyte grinned, tossing him a reproachful look as her engine let out an offended rumble, "I object to that statement. I object with great objection."

They finally made a small move and watched the board intently as Cliffjumper made his play. Three breems later the red Autobot, who was winning substantially enough to take time to talk, asked seriously, "So what was going on out there, TB? We heard a lot of bridging, running, and shouting."

She ignored the question for a while, absent-mindedly slapping Skyquake's hand away as he went to make a really poor move. The answer to that question was so convoluted and long.

"Long or short version?"

"Long." Cliffjumper and Skyquake both said instantly and simultaneously, the red mech finishing, "It isn't like we have anything better to do till someone tells us to do something."

She sighed, having figured that they would say as much. She passed them their Energon cubes and started replaying everything that had occurred since that morning. She told them about the prophecy and her reaction to it, then explained how she'd left the base to clear her helm in the forest.

She left out the part about Taia.

Then she went on to tell how she'd seen Megatron and run over to find the Dark Energon readings, and how when she'd come back Optimus had been gone fighting Megatron. Her tone went icy as she related how they had struggled to save Raf's life, then how she and Ratchet had fought over the boy's treatment.

Finally she finished with how June had taken Raf away, meanwhile the planet they were on was shattering as the titan beneath awoke.

By the time she was finished, Terabyte had gone perfectly, painfully stiff as she stubbornly continued the game that none of them really felt like playing any longer. Throwing back the last of her Energon, the spy leapt to her pedes in an abrupt motion, nearly disrupting the game board.

"As much as I would like to remain here, pretending that I do not have duties to perform, I must now take my leave." She said formally, bowing slightly to the two mechs and making her swift exit, her jaw clenched tightly.

Once in the hallway and out of the two prisoners' audial range, Terabyte sifted through the internet records for half a klick before getting the information she was after. Pressing two servos to the base of her right finial in a gesture she had inadvertently picked up from the Autobots, she spoke quietly in another adopted gesture of consideration.

"Hello, is this the fem- child Taia's caretaker?" Terabyte asked - barely avoiding calling Taia a femmeling - when her call was answered by a stressed-sounding woman, adding politely, "This is Ms. Byte speaking."

"Yes, Ah'm Taia's fosta momma... Who are you? Wha do you want with us?" The woman's oddly accented voice sounded unusually frightened and angry. Most likely by the news reports declaring that their whole planet was coming apart at the seams.

"As I stated previously, my name is Tera Byte," She purposefully split her name so as to resemble the humans' designation patterns. As she continued the conversation, the spy silently slipped into an empty cargo-hold, incidentally the one containing the empty Scraplet pod they had encountered several quartex ago. "I work for your planet's government, and I only wish to ensure your protection. Did the child return home safely?"

The woman hesitated before replying, "Yes... Whaddya mean our _planet's_ gova'ment? You're anotha one o'_ them_ ain't you?" Her tone grew bolder and accusatory, "Wha do you want wi' ma Taia? We don't want none o' your brand o' protection _Ms. Byte_. So you can just tell you boss to fly away home to whateva _rock _you lot come from, y'hear?"

Terabyte ignored the woman's sudden anger, her optic ridges furrowing in despairing concern, "Another one of us.. Ma'am have you been contacted prior to my call? Did the caller leave any form of identification?"

"You bet 'e left _i-dent-ific-ation_!" The woman replied tetchily, "Metal-man near well broke ma poor ole ears shoutin' 'bout his Decrepits or whateva it was 'e called 'em. Threatened ta blow ma house to Cybaton if Ah din't give 'im ma Taia."

Her crimson optics widened, her processors' fearful jumping to conclusions leading her to leave off correcting the woman in favor of asking, "You did not heed his demands?"

The woman let out an offended huff, "Ah don't know 'bout family on _your_ planet, but here, we got _stan_dards. And tha means there ain't no way Ah'm gonna give _any_body ma Taia. Especially if they gonna threaten ma family's safety."

"He did not attempt to take her by force?" Terabyte questioned dubiously.

"Well yeah 'e did, but Ah gave the bully what-for till he wen' flyin' off in tha desert."

She scowled. How on Earth did a human scare off a Decepticon?

"Ah ain't got neighbors out here," The woman replied to the statement she had unknowingly spoken aloud, "So Ah got ma'self some protection. Good ole Lassie packs a mean punch. Screamy din't think Ah was no ordin'ry puny fleshlin' after havin' words with 'er."

In spite of herself, Terabyte smirked behind her mask. She liked this woman. She had... 'spunk' as Miko would say. So Starscream had come out of hiding since going rogue, and he had been sent back into exile after a failed attempt to capture a human sparkling.

"You... and Lassie, have my gratitude, Caretaker of Taia." She said, still smirking at the mental image her processors had construed of this woman chasing Starscream with a cannon, scolding him like an unruly youngling all the while. Tracking the call with a speed that attested to vorns of practice, the femme asked for politeness' sake, "May I ask where you are located, ma'am?"

"You _may_ if you like, but Ah ain't gonna tell you." The woman said matter-of-factly. "See here, young lady, Ah don't care who you are, or what you're capable of, but you ain't gonna intimidate with you big-alien superiority act. Ah'm gonna protect ma own family, an' Ah don't wanna have nothin to do with any o' you folks."

"Ma'am, I am not denying your will to protect your family, but you are in danger. The mech who threatened you is a rogue, however, if the Decepticons learn that you and Taia have come into contact with our kind, they will not hesitate to destroy you, or worse."

She memorized the coordinates and glanced outside the cargo bay to make sure that no one was coming.

"From what Ah can tell, i's your fault these folks are causin' trouble for us in the first place, so Ah really don't think we need any more o' your help." The woman paused thoughtfully, "Ah ain't gonna tell nobody what we know - ain't like they'd believe a lonely ole woman an' her eight year old kid rantin' 'bout giant alien ro-butts n'any case. You keep 'em away from us on your end, Ah'll keep 'em away on my end. But you stay away from ma girl, alright?"

Terabyte sighed heavily, "If only it were so easy, ma'am. I never intended to make contact with your charge; she found me on her own. The only time I had met her prior to today, I was disguised as an earth transport vehicle. There is no way that she ought to have been able to recognize me. My paint job had even changed since she first saw me."

"Well, tha' does sound like ma Taia. Always discoverin' things that she ain't s'posed to notice. She's got insight, that kid does. Some sorta sixth sense in that blond lil head o' hers."

She rubbed one finial absently, the sensors still sore from the shrill scream of the modified CR chamber. The girl's insightful comments were still echoing in her mind. Sixth sense indeed.

"Yes, I had experienced as much." She frowned, "Are you certain that you do not wish for protection?"

"Yes."

The spy nodded in acknowledgement. Not that she would listen to the woman, she would simply provide her protection more indirectly. The security systems on this planet were severely deficient, embarrassing to an agent of her skill. However, it did make her job of modifying government satellites to inform her the moment any Decepticon came within five miles of their dwelling. Removing any records of the family's home from the internet was a simple enough task. It would be an inconvenience to them if they wanted to ship something directly to their home, but they would be safe.

"I respect your decision." She said quietly, her left finial twitching faintly. "I wish you luck, Caretaker of Taia, and I will do all in my power to ensure that no harm comes to either of you. Farewell."

"'Preciate your concern for ma girl, Ms. Byte. Shows you're a good person, or alien or whateva, shows you got a heart in that cold steel frame o' yours." The woman replied softly, seeming to have recognized the urgent worry in her tone for what it was, "Ah can't expec' you to be able to do nothing if Taia seeks you out again, but Ah won't soon forget your promise, an' you don't wanna know what Ah'll do to you if you break it."

A light click signified that the woman had decided their conversation was at an end.

Terabyte straightened stiffly and bowed her helm slightly in a habitual ending to the conversation, stalking out of the cargo hold with a contemplative scowl. The doors had hardly swooshed closed behind her when the femme jumped in fright, nearly slamming her face straight into a bright yellow shoulder plate.

"Bumblebee!" She exclaimed in shock before smoothly regaining enough of her composure to tilt her helm respectfully, though no words worth voicing came to her processors.

**"Terabyte."** The gold scout replied with a small smirk to let her know that he'd noticed her surprise, his tone-less destroyed voice was suspiciously free of inflectional clicks and bleeps. **"Talking to someone?"**

She resisted the urge to take in a nervous vent as she internally floundered for a moment before saying crisply, "Negative, sir. Over the vorns, talking to myself became habitual. I apologize if this may have raised suspicion."

He let out an unconvinced whirl, crossing his arms and leaning back watching her carefully with his huge, pale blue optics.

Her armor flared in and out once in an agitated motion, opting for a subject change to hopefully throw the mech off, "Have you heard from Raf since Jack's mother took him to the humans' medical ward?"

The scout beeped a quick affirmative, still watching her with trained suspicion. **"Pretty intense conversation with yourself."**

"Do you ever feel like you just need to talk to your creators?" She asked abruptly, averting her gaze shyly. She was a spy, she lied for a living - back when they still got paid in more than Energon. "I came out here for that reason. I assumed that you would think it strange, a war-hardened ex-Con talking to her decavorn-since-deceased creators."

**"Oh."** Bumblebee whirred in sympathetic understanding. The scout glanced away, rubbing his elbow awkwardly, **"No, that's cool. I mean not cool at all, but I... Praxus. So, I get where you're coming from at least." **He gave her a friendly smile and shrugged, **"If you ever... Uh... want to talk about it... I'm open. It really helped me; talking about it, rather than just simmering in anger."**

"Talk? About what?" Terabyte snorted derisively, not needing to fake her reaction, "It isn't like I can just _forgive_ what the Wreckers did. No offense intended, sir, but I will be perfectly willing to talk, even let you attempt to counsel me. _After_ I have Ultra Magnus' spark fading in my hands. Not before."

Bumblebee frowned as he tried to think of a response to such a blunt statement. She didn't give him time to as she walked away with her helm held high. She clenched her jaws tightly in anger.

At least the mech would no doubt have forgotten about his initial suspicions.

She stepped into the main chamber, her cool composure once again firmly set in place. The whole room pulsed loudly and steadily, barraging her audial sensors with the distinctly amplified sound of a spark pulse. Wincing at the intensity of the sound, she tuned down her audial sensors.

"A Cybertronian heartbeat?" Jack asked incredulously, glancing around as though awaiting some form of correction.

"How is that possible?" A familiar woman's voice questioned calmly, making Terabyte smile softly with relief. June and Raf had come back. And they were both safe. "A heart pumps blood. There's nothing in the Earth to pump."

The dark-armored femme shifted into a stiff 'at-ease' position, stating quietly, "Except Dark Energon... 'The Blood of Unicron'." Turning to Ratchet, Terabyte carefully held her growing fear out of her calm voice, "The legends of Primus and Unicron appear to ring true. And it would appear that by them, our worlds' fates are intertwined."

"Whoa. Hang on." Miko interrupted, the normally unflappable girl's voice wavering, "You mean something's _living_ down there: _inside_ our planet?"

"I fear that the Earth's very core is comprised - not of magma, as your science has suggested - but of Dark Energon." Ratchet replied solemnly, his tone, as ever, taking on a flair for the dramatic.

"And if we're hearing a spark, then Unicron is the rising darkness the prophecy foretold." Optimus concluded.

Arcee stopped drumming her fingers on her hip for a moment, raising an optic ridge, "So, how do we _stop_ this thing from rising?"

"That, I am afraid, was not foretold."

Terabyte scowled at the Prime's - if she didn't know better - attempt at dry humor. She looked around briefly for Raf before pointing out coolly, "Foretold or not, either we stop Unicron's awakening, or this planet suffers an even worse fate than Cybertron."

Jack flicked a hand up like a school child, "Um... How can something be in our Earth's core and... and be _alive_?"

"Such a thing is not unprecedented." Optimus replied, his tone deepening as he began retelling the ancient legends that comprised every youngling's first lesson in history.

"Before the beginning... there was Primus. And there was Unicron. One: the incarnation of creation, the other: of destruction. For eons, Primus and Unicron battled, the balance of power shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the Thirteen - the original Primes who preceded me - was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the Well of Allsparks - accessed by Vector Sigma - while Unicron was never to be heard from again... until now."

A new voice - startling Terabyte slightly - suggested crudely, "Maybe we could find the hole this _'Uber-Con'_ left when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it full of explosives."

"Agent Fowler," The Prime said wearily, "I do not believe the Earth _became _Unicron's home, but rather that with time and gravitational force, debris collected around the slumbering titan."

"Forming the Earth itself around his frame." She finished at barely more than an awed whisper.

"And the Titan now awakes due to the magnetic pull created in this extraordinary planetary alignment foretold in Cybertronian lore!" Jetfire piped in cheerfully. The white mech seemed so excited by everything that was occurring, despite the impending doom that these 'fascinating' occurrences meant.

"Okay..." Jack started slowly, his fleshy face squinching up in concentration, "So what happens when Unicron wakes up from his billion-year nap?"

"Yeah!" Miko agreed instantly, "Does he stretch and - kapow! - Earth poufs to dust?"

At the mutually worried glance the Prime and Ratchet shared, June frowned up at them, "You don't know, do you?"

Terabyte's engine hummed thoughtfully, "My guess would be that Unicron has at this point in time, transcended physical form."

Nodding in agreement, Optimus went on, "Nonetheless, we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens..."

He finished grimly, "The fate of your planet depends upon it."


	49. One Shall Rise pt 2

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 49**

**One Shall Rise pt. 2**

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**Okay guys, here you go! Next chapter! This chapter was quite a lot of fun to write, so I'm hoping you will enjoy it as much as I did! Can't wait to hear from all beloved readers, so read, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers, or the Transformers: Prime television series.**

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_Her spark pounded in its chamber, the roar of her life-En pumping through her audials. The little femmeling circulated a large draft of air through her systems. She huffed at the steam that came from her vents in the frigid Urayan plains. Her dented and scratched plating pressed against her form to keep as much of her body heat from escaping as possible._

_Her one bent finial twitched and sparked painfully as the badly damaged blue and yellow youngling crouched in the small alley way shivering. Loud voices and stomping pedefalls filled her audials, making her shake with rage and fear where she hid under the rubble of a building that they had probably blown up the same way they blew up her home._

_She'd been on the run for a long time. Long enough that she'd lost count of the orns, her chronometer having broken along with a lot of other things that her HUD kept telling her about. She didn't know what most of the errors meant though, so she just hoped she wasn't dying. _

_Mr. Fixall hadn't taught her class about first aid yet. She wasn't supposed to be taught that for a few more frames. _

_The youngling sighed, biting hard on her lip. Mr. Fixall was her favorite teacher. He was probably dead too. Guess he couldn't fix everything after all._

_As the small team of about seven Autobots trudged dangerously close to her hiding spot, the third-frame youngling shivered again and offlined her vocalizers to cut off the keen that kept trying to fight its way out. She shuttered her optics and tried to ignore the throbbing in her broken arm that doubled in intensity with every jarring pedefall of the passing Autobot team._

_She could hear the hum of charged energy weapons, and the mechs sounded like they were confused. They were looking for her. Her life-signal was on their radar and they had seen her run from them. They knew she was nearby, but they couldn't find her. _

_The youngling's mouth opened in a silent scream when light started shining into her hiding spot. A mech shouted directly above her, "I found her!"_

_Frantically, she dug at the rubble behind her with her one good arm, digging until her servos started leaking life-En, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She had to get to Kaon! To avenge her home! _

_She couldn't let them kill her now. She'd come too far!_

_Just before the mech had gotten enough of the rubble moved to get to her, the Protihexian youngling broke through and ran for her life, leaving a small puddle of life-En behind her. She heard their shouting behind her, their calling to her as though they weren't the bloodthirsty killers she knew them to be. _

_Every inch of her frame screamed in pain as she ran, a bunch of words scrawling across her HUD with urgent, meaningless messages that she simply ignored. She shivered as she ran, the icy air cutting through her light, civilian youngling armor with ease, chilling her to the protoform. _

_Tripping over a rock, the youngling looked over shoulder quickly. _

_The Autobots were coming for her! _

_A huge green jet seemed to materialize in front of her and she crashed into pede, bursting into tears as her numerous wounds erupted with pain. Skyquake smirked down at her coldly, "Everyone's dead, Terabyte. Dead or gone. Every time fate gives you a family, you always screw it up."_

_She jolted awake, coolant streaming down her face at the childhood memory-turned-nightmare. She didn't want to be awake. Being awake meant going to the launch pad to watch her last friend fly away for the last time for the indefinite future._

_Today was the day._

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**"The Cons killed a Unicorn?"**

**"Okay..." Jack started slowly, his fleshy face squinching up in concentration, "So what happens when Unicron wakes up from his billion-year nap?"**

**"Yeah!" Miko agreed instantly, "Does he stretch and - kapow! - Earth poofs to dust?"**

**"Nonetheless, we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens... The fate of your planet depends upon it."**

_/Optimus, I'm detecting a swell in Unicron's spark activity./ _Ratchet said aloud and through the public comms. _/Have you uncovered any further signs of his emergence?/_

The reply that came was a deep, rumble of what sounded like a hundred mechs speaking in synchronized unison, shocking all listeners, **/Unicron is power incarnate, and you - the last of the Primes - shall perish./**

The medic grunted, "I take that as a 'yes'."

_/We're on our way, Prime./_ Arcee assured instantly, motioning the awaiting team towards the ground bridge as she did so, drawing her blasters in preparation for the huge battle that they would find upon bridging.

_/Negative./ _Optimus countered firmly. _/Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force. I am who he wants. This fight must be mine alone./_

Terabyte stopped in her tracks, along with the rest of Team Prime, looking to Arcee for further instructions. She held her ruby gaze neutral; her skeptical frown hidden beneath her mask. The Prime didn't seriously expect them to sit around at base while an ancient being superstitiously revered as the god of destruction tried to terminate him did he?

By his or her expressions, everyone else was thinking the same thing. Arcee jerked her helm to bridge as Ratchet opened the portal.

Bulkhead smirked, "I'm guessin' we never heard that order?"

"Right." The blue and pink femme confirmed, striding through the swirling green gateway, her team close behind.

Stepping out into the midst of a dusty battlefield, Terabyte instantly dropped to a crouch, levelling her mini-fusion cannon on the first stone animation she saw. Her optics narrowed at the sheer number of 'Unicrons' there actually were. According to her sensory read-out, she ought to have been swimming in the 'Blood of Unicron'.

Hearing a roar, the spy glanced over her shoulder to watch a stone helm turn to dust beneath Bulkhead's wrecking ball. Optimus glared at all of them, "Did Ratchet not relay my order? Return to base immediately."

From the cliff edge far above them, Unicron chorused, "Reinforcements will not prevent your destruction, Disciple of Primus."

Arcee glared back at their leader stubbornly, "Optimus, you're Unicron's target."

"Maybe _you_ should consider going back to base." Bulkhead suggested with a light shrug, already knowing that the Prime would never consider that an option. Bumblebee whirred in agreement.

She scowled slightly. All that returning to base would accomplish was luring Unicron straight to their center of operations. To do so would be beyond foolish. "Unicron has already proven that he can locate the Prime at any location on the planet. Not even the base would be a guaranteed safe-house."

Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee all turned to glare at her sharply, making the spy's flared armor shift uncomfortably.

"Not helping, Terabyte."

"I will not put others at risk." Optimus said finally, his tone and gaze clearly expecting no further argument.

The older femme shook her helm, laying a hand on the Matrix-bearer's elbow, "Then fall back and let us take the lead. Just this once."

The huge red and blue mech looked ready to protest further, until his optics dimmed, suggesting an internal communication. His frown deepened, and then his shoulders fell in defeat. "Very well."

Nodding in grateful acknowledgement, Arcee waved a hand, motioning them forward into the battle, "Let's move!"

Terabyte's optic ridges pulled together as a message pinged on her HUD. From Skyquake? She opened the message swiftly, ignoring the questioning glances - and bellows - from the rest of the team, who had just reached the front line of battle.

_/Don't die out there./_

She rolled her crimson optics, smirking behind her mask at the concise, yet amazingly clumsy glyphs. Honestly, she had no idea how the mech even managed to write so sloppily. She couldn't write that messy if she tried. Charging her cannon, Terabyte joined the fray, obliterating two stone Unicrons before she even reached the rest of the team.

_/You doubt my skill, mech? Really, how do you think I survived all these vorns?/ _She fired her cannon one last time before three Unicrons cornered her, at which point she released her dagger, bracing for hand-to-hand combat.

As Unicron swung his mace, the spy nimbly leapt onto the weapon, using his arm as a ramp straight to his helm, where she plunged her dagger in as far as it would go. Pulling the blade from the mound of dust and rubble she was now standing on, the femme swung it up just in time to block the next Unicron's punch, effectively shattering the stone limb.

_/Oh, I don't know, I figured you owed your survival primarily to me. After all, you couldn't even pay for your meals most of the time./_ Skyquake sent back cheekily.

The Unicron bellowed in rage right before eating a charge from her fusion cannon. Too late to block against the last of the manifestations that had blocked her in, the navy and black femme crumpled to her hands and knees under his club, biting back a scream as she felt her dorsal plating fold in on itself on impact.

She'd let herself get distracted.

Groaning at her sluggish reaction time, Terabyte rolled over in a painful attempt to dodge the final blow that never came. She blinked at the shower of dust that fell over her, coating every inch of her frame and grinding into her protoform. When the dust cleared, she found the yellow scout standing over her with worry evident in his large blue optics.

He bleeped questioningly, asking, **"You okay?"**

She repressed the howl of pain that fought to escape as she rose to her pedes slowly, letting out a low moan in its place. Swaying slightly before regaining her balance, she swiped aside the warnings on her HUD. "Thank you, Bumblebee, for coming to my aid. I am fine."

The bright mech didn't seem much convinced, but he nodded anyway. For the moment, that appeared to have been the last... one. Her optics locked onto the significantly larger manifestation of Unicron, this one nearly twice the size of Skyquake. The second thing she noticed was the fact that he had just fired a blast of Dark Energon straight at Bumblebee's back.

He'd never dodge in time.

Frame springing into action moments before her processor caught up, Terabyte felt herself leap forward and tackle the scout with full force, knocking both of them out of harm's way. She landed on top of the mech, the impact pushing a short cry from her vocalizers as the cliff side where they had previously stood exploded in a spray of rubble, shards of rock cutting into her exposed back.

Working up the strength to shove herself off the yellow Praxian, she only succeeded in rolling over next to him, hissing as the action drove the newly accumulated shrapnel deeper into her leaking, shredded, and crumpled dorsal plating.

She assumed that the fact they yet lived meant that the Prime or some other bot had demolished the massive stone manifestation of Unicron.

**"You still okay?" **Bumblebee queried, standing over her with a hand extended, one thick black optic ridge raised high on his forehelm.

There was no way the mech would believe her, but she nodded her pointed helm stubbornly and reached up, allowing him to pull her light frame to a standing position. Her left finial flicked agitatedly.

"I remain fine... I bel-" She cleared her vents harshly, lowering her mask just long enough to spit out the mouthful of life-En that had been obstructing her vents. "I believe that makes us even?"

_/We have fought well this cycle./ _Optimus announced over the comms., drawing them all instantly to attention. _/However, Unicron is not going to be so easily discouraged. For now, we must call for retreat. Autobots, transform and roll out./_

_/Optimus? We've got a bot down... I'm not sure if she can-/_

Terabyte cut the scout off with a sharp glare as she threw herself into transformation, landing in alt-mode and revving her engine in discomfort. Her glyphs were crisp and tight as ever, _/Bumblebee's concern is appreciated, however I can manage well enough on my own. Coordinates?/_

_/Follow my lead. Optimus out./_

The line fizzled out and the five drove off into the desert, staying close behind the red and blue semi that was their leader. She rolled on, allowing her processors to focus on every rotation of her tires, rather than the long distance they had yet to go. Just a few more turns.

She should never have gotten injured this badly. She allowed herself to get distracted and it ended with her being cornered by three Unicrons who would likely have terminated her had Bumblebee not intervened. Why the Autobot had intervened, she had yet to determine.

Yet at the same time, they had all also made it very clear that they trusted her with their very sparks. It was confusing. They trusted her. They had no reason to; she certainly hadn't proven herself trust-worthy, what with being brainwashed, and jeopardizing everything they stood for.

Even the Prime trusted her.

It filled her spark with a joy she hadn't felt for at least seven vorns.

All of a sudden the femme screeched to an abrupt halt, turning sideways to slow herself farther and bumping into Bumblebee in front of her. Transforming with the rest of the team, Terabyte swayed back a step to catch her balance.

"Why-" Refocusing her attention, the femme's gaze locked on to the colossal stone mech in front of them, towering above them with a size that far exceeded anything she'd ever seen before. This Unicron stood at least as tall as the Kaonian citadel.

**"Is that Unicron? For real this time?" **

"No, not Unicron himself, Bumblebee, but yet another of his manifestations." Optimus corrected, staring up at the Titan along with his team.

Bulkhead's engine rumbled in disgust, "If we can't beat Unicron, and we can't outrun him, what are we supposed to do?"

The Prime turned to look at his soldiers with a grave expression. "All we can do. Neutralize his vessels as they appear, until we can destroy him without destroying this very Earth upon which we walk."

Each mech and femme nodded in solemn acknowledgement, falling into a ready stance, weapons charged and locked on the massive Titan under whose shadow they stood. Terabyte shuddered, clenching her jaw against the pain of her injuries. She had fought with greater afflictions, in situations almost this dire.

The ground shook beneath her as the Titan began to stomp towards them, the hard earth of the desert sinking under his steps. The femme's processors and battle protocols were already whirring at top speed as she ran towards their opponent, firing her fusion cannon in rapid succession. By the tiny puffs of dust where her shots landed, one would have thought she were an insect, futilely attempting to poke him to death.

Crimson blasts of energy joined blue in the team's efforts to bring the Titan down, yet his every step knocked them to their knees. Every time they fell, their chances of escaping the next pede-fall grew slighter, and every shot they fired only heightened Unicron's rage.

A thick blackness suddenly hovered over her and she looked up in horror, falling back on her aft as the ground shook violently beneath her. Terabyte hissed, firing her cannon once before it powered down, flashing a tiny notice that her cannon required a half breem to cool down.

"Slag!"

She shrieked as the Titan's fingers curled around her frame, picking her up like she were no more than a doll. Extending her scarlet Energon blade, the spy stabbed and slashed at the hand that held her captive with the frantic vigor of a bot who could see death approaching. As Unicron's grip tightened, the femme's screams faded out into choked vents heaving to cool her panicked, overheating frame.

One final time, she swung her blade with all of her strength, her faceplates going slack in shocked defeat as the blade snapped in half. She could feel her armor buckling under the pressure, but she was too crushed to make a sound. Her optics turned down to the ground just in time to see the Prime collapse as Unicron's enormous foot bore down on him.

**"I am this world's past and future... And as of this moment..."**

A single, hot pink coolant tear slid down her faceplates, though she couldn't tell if it was from the thought of all five of them dying, or from the intense agony coursing through her while she was being squeezed to death.

Far below her, she heard Arcee howl, "NO!"

**"The line of the Primes is past!"**

Darkness tinged the edges of her vision, her frame going limp in Unicron's grasp. She rebooted her optics, watching her ruby bio lights flicker forlornly as the pressure continued. The tiny femme could already feel her systems shutting down from the pain. Soon the cool embrace of stasis would lick away the misery...

_/Skyquake? Thank you... for everything./_

An explosion so loud her audials shorted out erupted all around her and the Titan crushing her bellowed. Her whole frame went into a full reboot, her optics going blank as she vaguely registered heavy, dust-laden air rushing past her, but beyond that she felt and sensed nothing.

**Moments Later**

**"Who did that?"**

"Wasn't me."

"Me neither."

"What happened?"

She jerked back into consciousness, her optics onlining to find a wall of silver in front of them. The wall shifted and shook in a steady rhythm in time with the thudding of everything around her. Her helm lolled slightly, her frame refusing to do anything more than lie completely relaxed, all of her systems practically sighing in relief at the release of the spark-crushing pressure.

Her vents heaved, her fans whirring gently in her frame. Warnings scrolled endlessly over her HUD informing her of the processes of her slowly recovering and re-equalizing of internal pressures. Her armor was damp with her own life-En, but that revelation failed to fully compute in her mind.

"I happened." The silver wall in front of her rumbled smugly. His voice rang familiar in her processors, yet she couldn't quite identify it in her current state of mind.

Whoever it was, she owed him her life.

Arcee snorted at an unheard set of comments, "Don't be so sure. _Megatron_ just saved Optimus' tailpipe. Terabyte's too."

... Megatron?

She shifted, letting out a quiet, questioning, and disoriented groan. Last she remembered, she was dying. Maybe she had died and the mech carrying her was her herald to the Well.

"It _is_ rather ironic, considering our last encounter." The mech pointed out smoothly, "If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to extinguish my spark."

That didn't line up with the theory that she was dead. Not at all.

"That option remains very much in play." Another voice... Optimus... snarled, just above her helm.

The mech carrying her chuckled, a deep laugh that somehow chilled her to the spark. "I would expect nothing else. However," She felt herself get raised slightly in a general gesture to her whole self, "I have a proposal, and with it, a token of good will."

There was a heavy pause before he continued, "Join me in defeating our shared enemy - Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer."

Another pause that gave her the distinct feeling that there was some other form of communication in use, then Optimus replied, "Because Megatron's pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet."

Again the mech laughed, "You know me all too well, Optimus."

Terabyte looked up blearily to identify the mech who had saved her life and her tanks roiled. Megatron. Growling, the spy punched the warlord hard in the face with all the power she could muster, springing from his arms in a clumsy, panicked back flip as he simply blinked in mildly impressed surprise. She landed roughly on her pedes, and shakily stood her ground, feeling life-En ooze down her back.

"Herald of Primus..." She scoffed disgustedly at herself. Louder, she snarled, "Go rust in pit, Megatron, we don't need _your_ help."

He just grinned at her, "Actually, I beg to differ." He shrugged his massive, spiked shoulders casually, "Besides, I would watch your glossa if I were you, because the day will come when you will obey your master once again."

Her helm jerked painfully to the side of its own accord at his words, her optics widening as she realized at once what the warlord meant. His optics narrowed triumphantly and she hissed, straightening defiantly. There, for a split second, he had had full control of her, and they both knew it. She bit her lip. Of course.

"But you lead an _army_ of Cons." Bulkhead interrupted -his tone distrustful. The Autobots were all oblivious to what had just taken place. "Why come to us?"

Megatron turned to the large green ex-Wrecker with a smirk, "Because this particular endeavor requires something _beyond _the realm of my command-"

"The power of a Prime." Optimus finished solemnly, an amount of resignation in his tone that frightened her.

Arcee snorted derisively, "Then I guess we don't need you."

"On the contrary," The silver warlord drawled, "Optimus may be the only one who can defeat Unicron, but_ I_ remain the only one who can guide you to him. Unicron's lifeblood runs through me. Only I can hear his thoughts... _anticipate_ his movements. Optimus, our past alliances - Autobot, Decepticon - no longer matter, not while Unicron lives."

The Prime's engine growled with an anger she'd never heard from him before, "The past always matters!"

Her face went slack behind her mask at the sheer, broken rage behind that statement, and the extent of what it could entail. The past always matters.

Terabyte swayed again, losing balance quickly as the pain continued to catch up to her. Bumblebee came up behind her and stood close by. She nodded gratefully at the silent offer, leaning heavily into the mech for support, venting with relief as the scout held the majority of her weight for her.

**"A truce between Autobot and Decepticon? And how long are we supposed to expect **_**that **_**to last?" **He blipped scornfully, shifting to better support her without exacerbating her injuries.

"Only so long as is mutually beneficial." Megatron stated plainly, a hint of threat behind his civil tone.

"And when our proposed shared mission is complete?" Optimus prompted.

The warlord shrugged a shoulder, "I will conquer this Earth. _My_ way."

"Brutal honesty from a Decepticon." Arcee commented dryly.

Terabyte blinked her optics repeatedly, fighting to focus on something other than the streams of errors scrolling over her vision. She was beginning to wonder if there was any part of her left that _wasn't_ damaged or malfunctioning.

"Do you think you've witnessed the full power of Unicron?" Megatron taunted, "Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron has yet to fully awaken. With each passing moment, the "Bringer of Chaos" evolves, mutating Earth from the inside out. What we have witnessed until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon this world."

"Like your quest for power destroyed Cybertron?" She retorted sharply, lowering her battle mask to cough up a vent full of life-En.

"Make no mistake, this time, there will be a planet left for me to rule."

"Because-" Terabyte cleared her vents harshly, "Because that's worked so well for you so far."

"Silence!" The silver mech ordered sharply, watching with satisfaction as she cringed. The next time she went to speak, she found her vocalizers muted. Crimson optics burned into the warlord as she fumed, unable to further voice her disdain.

Arcee propped one hand on her hip where she stood on the other side of Megatron and Optimus, "Even if we agree, Unicron's all the way down at the center of the Earth. How are we supposed to get there? Drive?"

Half a breem passed in seeming silence. Terabyte scowled at the message on her HUD telling her that her comms system was among the disabled.

"Yet another strong argument for soliciting my guidance." Megatron rumbled, cocking one of his huge, sweeping optic ridges. Another blank silence. "If you transport us to this planet's core, I can lead you directly into Unicron's spark... The very _heart_ of his darkness."

Arcee frowned, her engine humming discontentedly, "Optimus, even if we survive the jump, how are we supposed to stop Unicron?"

"With the Matrix of Leadership." Came the Prime's regal reply.

She drew herself upright, pulling away from Bumblebee's support with a deep vent, biting down a groan. "This mech... is _pure_ evil, Prime. No amount of - of hoping for his redemption will bring it into fruition. To trust the Lord Protector is to invite death upon us."

The warlord gave her another chilling grin, inclining his helm in a show of humility, "I am glad to see that my soldiers continue to hold me in such high regard."

Her heated remark was interrupted by the earth shaking beneath their pedes. All turned to watch as the ground began warping and stretching out into three colossal re-animated statues of the Titan, the same size as the one that nearly killed them all.

Bulkhead grunted, "More incomin'. Whatever we're gonna do, it's now or never."

"Ratchet, set the ground-bridge."

Within moments of the Prime's order, a portal swirled to life just meters away. Bulkhead and Arcee both ran for it, closely tailed by herself and Bumblebee and lastly, Optimus himself. Before going through the gateway though, Arcee stopped. "Wait. We're opening a direct portal to our base with _Megatron_ standing _right there_?"

"Yeah, and seriously, he's gonna _risk his own spark_ to save us?" Bulkhead added, nearly laughing at the sheer absurdity of the concept.

"Hardly my nature." Megatron scoffed, turning to face the Titans with no more to aid him than the cannon/sword on his arm. "Consider my offer. I shall keep them busy."

She bit back a snarl, involuntarily arching her back away from the medic's trained touch. The little femme growled when Ratchet's wrench collided with her helm. "I said sit still! You wouldn't be injured at all if you'd _stay off the comms_ during battles with _Unicron_!"

Terabyte wisely remained silent, leaving Ratchet to work out the shrapnel from her dorsal plating while venting his frustrations. Arguing one way or the other would only elicit further violent applications of the wrench. It wasn't entirely her fault anyway. Skyquake ought to have known better than to distract her during a battle.

Not that she was really blaming him. The brig was not in her list of most exciting, interesting places to be kept. They had never been told that they had to stay in the brig, yet she didn't blame them for keeping themselves confined.

She winced again as the medic pulled out a significantly large shard. Ratchet had already fixed her communications array, and hooked her up to some sort of machine that was helping to more slowly re-adjust her systems to not being crushed. She was sitting quietly and patiently in the only properly secluded room of the med-bay.

The reason for her seclusion being that she was perched on the medic's berth in preliminary armor, carefully working out the dents in the cheap, gray civilian-grade prelim-armor. Her battle armor was currently in the lab portion of the med-bay, being repaired and reshaped by Jetfire; the external armor having been too badly damaged for a magnetic stylus to sufficiently fix it.

Her paint job would be completely totalled.

If the medic were not so aggravated with her for the extent of her wounds, she needed to talk to him about how to fix Soundwave's failsafes. However, now was not the best of times, since the rest of the team mostly had little more than bruises, dents, and a few dislocated joints. Easy fixes. Then there was her, with practically every system in her aching frame at least bruised.

"Medic?"

"What?" Ratchet snapped, ripping out another piece of shrapnel and setting it on the berth beside her. "Unless it's going to kill someone if you don't tell me, I'm kind of preoccupied digging half the mountain out of your struts."

She didn't reply for a while, choosing instead to fiddle with her bright ruby biolights. At long last she shook her helm. Until Megatron was gone, there was little she could safely do without angering the warlord.

The medic shrugged and returned to his work until a light series of taps sounded on the door, followed by Arcee swinging around the corner. Her tone was anything but pleased, "Megatron is here."

Ratchet dropped the tool he was currently wielding and put a hand on her shoulder for an astrosecond to detach the pressurizing machine before moving on to hastily tidying his supplies. "You'll need an orn or so for your self-repairs to finish up and make you actually feel better. For now, I'll have Jetfire bring in your battle-grade armor. I'm going to make sure Miko doesn't get herself vaporized."

Terabyte nodded indifferently, but the medic had already left. Her tanks churned as the Decepticon's booming voice seemed to permeate the air. Other voices overlaid each other in a jumbled, unintelligible burbling. Soon enough, Jetfire came barging in, unceremoniously depositing her armor in a heap beside her.

The white jet smiled at her encouragingly, "You should be glad to be alive. I dare say it is not every day that a femme lives to say she's been held in the fist of Unicron."

Clicking her outer armor sloppily into place piece by piece, she simply grunted noncommittally.

Out of politeness, the scientist had his back turned to her as he went on, "I have further examined the organic sparkling's blood - a new sample from the recovering patient - and the results have been rather disappointingly inconclusive. If Ratchet would allow it, I would like to endeavor upon more detailed studies. Perhaps you could persuade him? He seems fond enough of you."

"The dents in my helm would suggest otherwise, Jetfire." Terabyte said tonelessly, maneuvering around the jet and looking over her shoulder before leaving the med-bay with a mostly hidden limp, "When more pressing matters have been settled, I'll try to look into it for you though."

Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the glass walls dividing the med-bay from the main chamber, the spy couldn't help but wince behind her mask. She looked like she'd just crawled out of a pit of Sharkticons. All things considered though, she looked far better than she felt.

"Terabyte." The Prime stated, inclining his helm slightly, drawing her attention back to things of importance with his commanding tone, "Obtain destination coordinates from our guest."

She stiffened visibly, tightening her EM field and flaring her armor forcefully. Any objections she may have had fizzled out before being voiced, however, and she merely bowed respectfully to the Matrix-bearer. "Yes, sir. By what means shall I obtain them?"

"You could start by asking nicely." The silver Decepticon suggested dryly from where he stood a ways off in the center of the room, having hardly moved since his arrival.

A finial twitched in agitation.

The midnight blue and black spy's lips pursed together under the safety of her mask, yet the visible part of her face remained impassive. Striding over to the mech, she minutely and against her will, tilted her helm to her former leader. In spite of her best efforts, her armor shrank a fraction closer to her frame as she looked up resolutely at the mech. Her helm barely reached his midriff.

"After all, I am here to offer my aid." Megatron finished, lazily evaluating their base. "Something you are in dire need of, it would seem. Tell me, Terabyte, what about these Autobots did you find so intriguing that you would betray your own people?"

"Their leader not being a homicidal, Unicron-possesed megalomaniac bent on galactic domination may have been a contributing factor." She cocked an optic ridge, her finials flicking back in a sign of her building anger, "Learning that you had deceived me for over a decavorn so that you could utilize my bloodlust for your own twisted purposes... That may also have had a sizable influence. Now if it is not too much trouble for you, I did not come to discuss the terms of my defection."

He smirked down at her, his voice disgustingly cool, "Ah, yes. I suppose that is reasonable. I can see why Soundwave thinks so highly of you. In spite of your being an utter failure."

Her optics narrowed. "Coordinates. Now."

"Infiltrate Autobot ranks, and then send me all information you gathered; that was your assignment. Instead, I find you assimilated into their happy little family, bringing Skyquake down with you." The mech laughed at the concern growing in her optics, "Or had you not told them why you originally joined them? What can I say? I am not often inclined to be politically correct when treated as a hostage."

She could feel the other Autobots' gazes locked on her, but she refused to look in their direction. One trial at a time. "If you do not supply the requested coordinates within the next klick, I will obtain them by far less pleasant means."

"21.4762, 98.2759, 107.3402."

Venting deeply, Terabyte spun on her heel, storming away to deliver the coordinates to Ratchet, who plugged them into the bridge terminal without even glancing at her. She then made her way to the Prime, who had just finished speaking with Jack.

Before she could voice her request however, the Prime spoke, "Terabyte, if your injuries allow, I would like you to join us for this mission."

Her optics widened and she shook her helm faintly, "My- Prime... With all due respect, this mission will be difficult enough without your soldiers constantly fearing betrayal at my hands. Megatron announced my initial purpose to them all. I will not put this mission at risk."

The Prime shook his helm, his lip-plates quirked up in a sad half-smile, "Terabyte, they already knew that you came as a spy. You have won my trust, and you have won my team's trust. However, the decision to come remains yours."

"I think the femme's skills would be put to good use on this endeavor."

A shudder ran down her struts, her very life-En seeming to chill at Megatron's not-so-subtle threatening undertone. She stretched her neck struts, allowing her armor to shift uncomfortably against her battered protoform.

"In that case, I do not believe that I have much of a choice."

"Locked and ready." Ratchet announced calmly.

Terabyte bowed to Optimus again, following the Matrix-bearer through the portal after the rest of the team. She hissed as she emerged on the other side, falling the short distance between the bridge and the floor, jarring her sore frame.

Bumblebee glanced at her, buzzing in concern, which she waved off distractedly. The whole cavern around them glowed an eerie violet hue, Dark Energon crystals sparkling all around them. Bridges of an unidentified substance stretched above and below them individual fibers in an immense web, each strand glowing in fluctuating pulses of light.

Arcee spoke first out of the awed group, each member of their expedition gazing around them with wide optics. "So, how long before Unicron knows we're here?"

At the front of the party, Megatron's sinister voice echoed around them in the monumental expanse of whatever part of Unicron they had transported to, "Make no mistake... He already does."


	50. One Shall Rise pt 3

**Duty and Deceit**

**Chapter 50**

**One Shall Rise pt. 3**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers, or the television series Transformers: Prime.**

**Okay, so I know this came with absolutely no warning, but this is the final chapter of Duty and Deceit. Thank you all so much for your amazing support all through this story's progression! Your feedback truly did help this story to come alive and run away with itself, and for that, I am ever grateful.**

**Have no fear! Terabyte's story is by no stretch of the imagination over, so be on the lookout for the sequel to Duty and Deceit, which will be titled The Honor in Duty. I'm hoping to have it up in about a month, maybe less if you're all lucky and I get enough motivation (this is where you lovely people come in... *winks*)!**

**As the finale, I can't wait to hear what you all thought, so read, enjoy, and most importantly, review!**

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_She stood quietly on the launch pad. She'd been here for about a joor now, maybe two, she wasn't quite sure at this point. Her optics were dry and slightly over-heated, but her coolant supply had run out a while ago. _

_She had come to see Skyquake off that morning. If she had cared, the lift off was a magnificent sight to behold. The white and blue flames danced around the thrusters, pushing the ship heavenward with a billow of smoke, the spectators cheering as they watched her last friend break orbit and disappear into the starry daylight sky. The stars never left their planet, day or night._

_The little femme could still feel her best friend's arms around her in a gentle hug as they said their goodbyes. She could hear their broken, half-sparked chuckles at his attempts to open the obsidian puzzle box she had spent many a long night cycle crafting. _

_It was supposed to be a gift to thank him for everything that he'd done when Soundwave finally decided to deny her requests to delay getting promoted. That promotion would mean that she would be reposted to serve permanently under Soundwave and the Lord Protector in Kolkular. _

_The promotion would have been inevitable in the end, yet she estimated that she could continue to delay it for another vorn or two. Then she would have had time to tell Skyquake and the two of them would pull in some favors and he would get reposted somewhere nearby, so they could still meet every now and then._

_A highly classified mission to an unknown planet half-way across the galaxy had not been in her plans._

_She choked down a dry sob, brushing her face gently where she could still feel his comforting hand when she'd lost her composure and started crying. His deep, rumbling baritone rolled though her processors, 'Tera... don't mourn for me. I love you. I don't ever want to hurt you, in frame or in spark. Don't mourn me - Pit, it's not like I'm dying - just promise you won't forget me."_

_To which she had replied by giving him the puzzle, whose many facets were engraved with the most memorable of the times they had spent together. She'd told him that that was to make sure he - in all his bolt-helmedness as she had teased weakly - wouldn't forget her either. No matter if he was gone for a couple quartex or a couple decavorns. _

_Her logical mind had added, or forever. Skyquake had sworn on his spark that it wouldn't be forever. He had sworn it with such determined confidence; a confidence so strong that for a moment she was convinced. _

_But now he was gone._

_The mech who had stood by her ever since she first stepped foot in Decepticon territory. The mech who had got her her job, who had taught her to fight, to get the vengeance she wanted, and protected her every step of the way. The mech who literally would kill to protect her and had proven over and over again that he would die to protect her as well._

_The one friend that was always there for her when she needed him most._

_Until now._

_/First Major Terabyte, third in command of CI. Status./ _

_She straightened up, snapping her mask into place, shoving all thoughts and emotions harshly to the side of her mind. Sentiment would get her killed. He was gone now, and she had a duty to perform. A duty and a promise._

_/Good cycle, Commander Soundwave. My current ETA is one point three seven one five breems. Forgive my tardiness, I assure you it will not happen again./_

_/Understood./ The comm line clicked off with a hiss of static as the small femme stiffly strode off the empty launch pad, leaving with it her unprofessional thoughts and feelings. _

_This rotation signalled the end of another chapter of her life. Once again, ending in a burning fire. Once again, fuelled by the things she loved. _

**Previously on Duty and Deceit...**

**/Unicron is power incarnate, and you - the last of the Primes - shall perish./**

**The Prime turned to look at his soldiers with a grave expression. "All we can do. Neutralize his vessels as they appear, until we can destroy him without destroying this very Earth upon which we walk."**

**The white jet smiled at her encouragingly, "You should be glad to be alive. I dare say it is not every day that a femme lives to say she's been held in the fist of Unicron."**

**"If you transport us to this planet's core, I can lead you directly into Unicron's spark... The very **_**heart**_** of his darkness."**

**A shudder ran down her struts, her very life-En seeming to chill at Megatron's not-so-subtle threatening undertone. She stretched her neck struts, allowing her armor to shift uncomfortably against her battered protoform.**

**"In that case, I do not believe that I have much of a choice."**

Terabyte followed at the rear of the group, walking backwards with her cannon charged as she scanned the whole chamber once again, though she already knew that it would come back scrambled. The Dark Energon was too powerful here for scans, communications, or any other means of transmission to function properly.

The violet walls of the cavern continued their eerie pulsating, the brightening and fading of the lights almost hypnotic to her weary, pain-laced processors. She was in no condition to be on this mission. Not that Megatron cared. She was an asset to be exploited to the fullest, and while she by no means understood the twisted warlord's plans for her, she knew for a fact that they would not be pleasant.

Bumping into a solid object, the spy spun around to find that the Bulkhead had come to an abrupt halt in front of her, holding himself up with his hands braced on his knees. Bumblebee bleeped and whirled in wordless query, laying a hand on the ex-Wrecker's back.

"I'm fine, Bee..." Bulkhead answered, venting tiredly, "Just woozy."

She frowned behind her mask, her scarlet optics narrowing. "The Dark Energon. It was not estimated to begin affecting us quite yet..." She ran another useless scan on the large green mech. "Its effects must be mass-related in nature."

While ordinarily this would mean that she would be the absolute last to be affected, the spy could already feel her energy being sapped by an external force. Her self-repair systems were already over-taxed with the task of keeping her online, making her more susceptible to the Dark Energon.

Terabyte watched the Prime and Megatron with scrutiny, noting that the 'Lord Protector's' purple optics and bio-lights had brightened significantly since their arrival in Unicron. "I suspect the Prime will be experiencing its effects soon as well, if not already."

"Steady..." Arcee warned, helping the mech keep his balance as he straightened, "Easy go, Bulk."

A deep rumble from Megatron had her straightening, returning her guard to their dim surroundings. "He is preparing to expel us."

Her helm jerked up at a faint whirring, her finials spreading out and swivelling to catch the sounds as best as possible, only for her to snap them back together when she caught sight of the swarms of silver, winged creatures glowing with Dark-En. Long, tendril-like tails trailed behind each insectoid drone.

"What are those things?" Arcee asked, dropping into battle readiness along with the rest of their small band.

"As we are within Unicron, it stands to reason they are some form of an antibody." Optimus replied calmly, watching the silver Decepticon leader to gauge his reaction. To everyone's surprise, he too prepared for battle.

"Aim for their wings. I would also advise shutting down communications systems, as I am picking up high-frequency emissions from the 'antibodies' meant to scramble your processors' sensory data translation. Bumblebee should be able to second that conclusion, since his doorwings and my finials both register frequencies beyond that of ordinary Cybertronian hearing." Raising her charged fusion cannon, she could see no form of weaponry on the creatures, but was not about to give them the benefit of the doubt.

**"Sorta. Just sounds like screaming gibberish, but translation's not my forte."**

_Battle protocols activating... Error: Full energy reserved to self-repair systems. Reroute? Y/N._

_Yes. Rerouting..._

_Rerouted. Warning: Protoform repair - cancelled. Equilibrium sensor repair - cancelled. Fuel tank repair - cancelled..._

She brushed aside the flurry of errors from her HUD, shuttering her optics with an off-balanced sway as the world seemed to spin around her. Ignoring the false sensory data that came of her equilibrium repairs being post-poned, the femme fell into a ready stance, relying solely on the information her extended finials provided to approximate the velocity, proximity, and threat-level of each approaching creature.

Whirling, Terabyte fired the first shot, her efforts being rewarded by a shrill cry of the swarm's herald falling. Soon the air was filled with the shrieks and sizzles of blaster fire, mixed with the deep roar of the warlord's cannon and the slightly less impressive booming of her own mini-cannon.

She mentally rerouted the focus of her repairs to her equilibrium, venting heavily.

**"How do you do that? Your optics are shuttered!" **

"I trained under Makeshift and Soundwave himself alternately."

More of the creatures fell, until the spy hissed at the data she was receiving, drawing her Energon dagger instead of her cannon. Carefully calculating, the femme leapt over the yellow scout, firmly planting her left hand on his shoulder for balance, cartwheeling off of him to blindly impale a drone that had snuck up behind him.

She dared to open her optics for a moment, falling back on her aft from the blow of dizziness that the action brought. A flash of purple was interrupted by gold and then she slammed her optics shut again. "Also, necessity. Self-repairs and battle protocols do not seem too fond of sharing my life-force."

Bumblebee latched onto her arm and pulled her up to her pedes, from which point she sprung away and swung around in a full circle, feeling her dagger slice through metal, hearing the spurt of severed life-lines. Her pede slipped on the spilled fluids and she bit back a shriek as she felt herself starting to fall backwards, her hands scrabbling for purchase on the slick bridge from which she was falling.

_Equilibrium systems repaired. Moving to protoform repair. _Terabyte rolled her shuttered optics at the irony. Kind of late for that.

Her claws dug into the metal, but she could hear the screech of it giving way, she could feel the metal tearing out from under her. Crimson optics flung wide with fear, locking on to the black metal shavings raining down as her only life line peeled away under her claws.

A single silver hand the size of her helm reached down and wrapped around both of her forearms, pulling her up with practically no effort at all. She didn't take her optics off of the warlord for an astrosecond once he set her down, swinging her dagger over her helm to stab a drone leaping for her back.

"Twice in one day, femme. Remember that." Megatron commented, dancing away with the deadly grace of a Pit-fighter, leaving a trail of the offlined.

As the battle progressed, the drones just kept coming. The lifeless husks littered the bridge they were on, and all the bridges below them were strewn with their frames, yet the drones simply kept flying in in droves. Droves of drones. Skyquake would love this.

She allowed the drones to herd her towards where Megatron and the Prime stood back to back, dripping in engine oil. Their blades shone in the dim light of the cavern, slicing fluidly through drone after drone. And they fought so perfectly, so seamlessly, Terabyte couldn't help but find herself gazing at the two of them in awe.

They fought with the utmost trust of each other. If she didn't know better, she would have thought they were the best of friends, rather than the leaders of two warring factions. Neither Megatron nor the Prime paid heed to guarding their weak points, each one knowing the other's every weakness and defending it accordingly.

"Whoa." She breathed quietly before howling as for the second time that day she felt a wall of shrapnel cut into her dorsal plates, this time consisting of an internally pulverised Unicron spawn, crushed by Bulkhead's wrecking ball.

The femme returned her attention to the battle around her, away from the flawless teamwork of the Prime and the Lord Protector. She sliced through one glowing purple drone, along with the wing of another, sending both over the edge of the bridge. She stumbled over an eviscerated drone and fell to her knee-plates.

_Warning: Registering dangerous levels of Dark Energon flowing in life-lines. Attempting to process... Unable to process. Full systems purge advised._

How in the world did she get the Blood of Unicron _inside_ her? Outside, yes, that made sense...

Her optics slid down to her dagger, which she just now recalled that she had shattered on Unicron's thumb. Another moment's study revealed that the dagger had shattered partially inside her forearm, severing a main powerline. Said shattered dagger was dripping with Dark Energon, allowing the dark matter to roll into the severed powerline.

Just as she made that realization, the battle around them suddenly fell silent, though she and Bumblebee could hear the tell-tale whirr of an approaching second wave of drones. Seconds later, the whirring grew loud enough for the others to hear.

"Megatron?" Optimus questioned warily, watching oil and Dark-En drip down his own twin blades, one of which was snapped in half. When the frozen warlord didn't respond, the Prime repeated more urgently, "Megatron!"

Rolling his shoulders, Megatron cocked his helm to the side faintly, the purple of his bios fading temporarily before growing brighter. "Unicron's spark lies just beyond!"

"H-how... do we get in?" Terabyte asked, forcing her protesting frame to stand upright with the same crisp flare that she always held, belying the damages she had taken. Had she not offlined her pain receptors, she doubted such stubborness would have been possible. Even with the receptors deactivated, she still ached all over in a way that wasn't exactly pain, but hurt nonetheless.

"By fooling Unicron's defenses into thinking we are not a threat." The silver Decepticon replied simply, stepping up to the door so that his spark was hardly an inch away from its surface.

The door peeled apart to reveal a somewhat damp, dark passage way glowing with the Destroyer's life force. A wave of anger and revulsion washed through the opening, hitting them with an almost tangible force.

"Autobots," Optimus began, regal tone holding a depth of passion that hinted to how likely he thought it was that he would survive. "I would have you to keep our attackers at bay for as long as you can. Remember... No matter what comes, you are stronger than you believe."

"Terabyte, accompany us."

She started slightly at Megatron's order, her jaw clenching angrily as she realized that she could not disobey the mech. In spite of that, the femme snarled, "You do not command me, Megatron."

He cocked an optic ridge at her, signalling his clear disbelief. His determined gaze didn't change, though he seemed bemused by her futile show of defiance. "Then let the Prime, however, I believe there ought to be one to bear record of my saving the world alongside Optimus my brother."

The Prime simply nodded, knowing that it would profit little to argue with the warlord. As she entered the passage, attempting to disguise her slight limp, Optimus turned to his team and with grave tones said, "May Primus smile on us all."

The second the Autobot leader was clear of the door, it stretched over itself, locking them in with the very spark of Unicron. She repressed a frame-wracking shudder as yet another pulse of pure hate washed through the room, emanating from the pulsating sphere of life in the center of the chamber ahead.

Terabyte slipped into the chamber silently, her limping pedefalls not making a sound on the smooth floor of the cavern. Her finials twitched in agitation, splaying out to catch all the sounds and vibrations of the Titan's spark and its surrounds. She bit back a snarl as Unicron's voice reverberated through the room, shaking her to the struts.

Optimus swiftly moved to open his chest-plates, to bare the Matrix and his own spark for all to see, approaching Unicron's spark. A low, nigh on inaudible whine filled the air and the spy's optics widened, her hand reaching out to the Prime of its own accord. "Optimus! Get back!"

Her warning coming too late, the Titan's spark flashed bright with a blinding white light that seared through the three Cybertronians as though their life-En had turned to magma, the force of the blast knocking her to her hands and knees.

Rebooting her optics to clear the static that laced over her vision, the femme remained stationary, ignoring a new onslaught of agony and error messages. A bellow of pained anger shook the cavern, drawing the little spy's gaze up to its source.

Megatron stood over the Prime with his sword unsheathed and raised over Optimus, where the Autobot lay on the floor where he'd fallen, watching his brother with wary optics. The silver warlord roared again, a purple aura glowing brighter around him by the second. "Megatron. Is commanded by. NO ONE!"

"Matrix of Leadership!" The Autobot leader cried out, once again rising to direct his spark and the Matrix intertwined with it to Unicron's own. "I call upon you-"

Terabyte gasped as Megatron, freed for a time from Unicron's control, once again froze in his place as the Chaos-Bringer fought to control him. "Megatron! Fight him!"

The warlord howled, turning his indignant gaze to her for one spark-stopping moment, bellowing, "What in the Pits do you _think_ I'm doing?!"

She cringed minutely, stumbling to her pedes, only for another pulse of pure spark-energy sent the three of them crashing to the floor again, each intruder writhing as the burning power coursed through them.

**"You cannot defeat me, Disciple of Primus." **Unicron declared, his own voice rumbling from Megatron's chest, a form of violet flame burning from the warlord's spark and optics as he prepared to slay the Prime. **"I have transcended physical being! By my will alone, all on this world shall fall into chaos!"**

"Not... While. I. Still. Function!" Optimus roared back, pushing himself up again with a grunt, flinging his arms back as the Matrix within him seemed drawn towards Unicron's spark, glowing exponentially brighter with every pulse of his spark. "The Matrix will light our darkest hour!"

A stream of blue light burst from his chest-plates, colliding with Unicron's spark in an explosion of lights, shaking the whole chamber violently as the spark fought and writhed against the power of the Matrix, the Titan's howls echoing through her helm.

Scrambling upright, Terabyte flung herself at Megatron with a fierce cry, distracting the Unicron-possessed mech from landing the blow intended to pierce the spark of her Prime. A scream shattered the air as the silver mech easily deflected her attack with a single swing of his arm, hitting her square across the face with enough strength to send the tiny femme flying across the room. She heard more than felt herself slam into the wall with a sickening crunch.

Knocked senseless by the impact, she faintly registered that she was lucky to still have her helm.

The blue and purple lights danced across her blurring vision in a beautiful array before fading into darkness as both light sources fizzled out, leaving only the dim glow of the Dark Energon in the walls.

"Terabyte, come."

Her helm jerked sideways and she shivered, suddenly feeling like she no longer had even the slightest bit of warmth left in her, yet she felt herself push herself up to her pedes and stumble over to where Megatron and the Prime were.

Megatron stood over the scarlet and cobalt Autobot, gazing down at him with a curious expression as the Prime slowly came to from having apparently blacked out. She shivered again, her spark rolling discontentedly within her. Something was wrong with Optimus. Horribly wrong.

"M-Megatronus?" He asked softly, looking around in confusion, allowing the silver Decepticon to help him up. "Where are we, Megatronus?"

"Don't you remember, old friend?" Megatron replied, sounding surprisingly gentle, like he'd just discovered a long-lost friend he'd thought dead.

The doors burst open behind them and the three Autobots they had left outside rushed in, weapons charged. Bulkhead caught sight of them first and called, "Optimus! Are you okay?"

The Prime frowned at the ex-Wrecker, not recognizing any of them, while Terabyte continued to stand stiffly to attention at Megatron's side. Her processors were too bleary from her collision with the wall, and she felt like she'd just survived being run over by one of Earth's 'trains'. She needed to take the Prime back home with the other Autobots. He needed a medic. She needed a medic.

Yet she couldn't seem to convince herself to move. Her optics widened fractionally and she shot Megatron a glare, earning herself a tiny, victorious smirk. She should have been more wary of Soundwave. She should have known that Ratchet's recovering her memories was far too easy. She knew better than to hope that she would be free so easily.

Soundwave never hacked a bot without leaving a failsafe.

"Why did he call me that?" Optimus Prime asked, his mild confusion budding into worry.

Arcee glared at her and Megatron, sending a shudder down her stiff frame. She winced and then hissed as her swollen and still swelling face-plates rubbed against the badly crumpled mask.

"What did you do to him?" The blue and pink two-wheeler snarled, her indigo gaze scathing.

The Prime glanced up between her and Megatron with distinctly un-Primely fear in his crystal clear optics. "Who are they?"

"Our mortal enemies." Megatron replied with a snarl, clenching his fist for emphasis. Beside them a groundbridge swirled to life. "Go, Orion! Terabyte, escort our friend home, I will cover for you!"

Terabyte opened her mouth to come up with some sort of defiant retort, but then the Prime looked into her optics with such pleading, confused trust that all protests died on her vocalizers. She nodded stiffly, her battle-torn frame screaming for her to simply lie down and succumb to stasis.

Instead, she reached up and laid a comforting - if trembling - hand on the mech's elbow, gently pulling him through the open bridge to the Nemesis as he watched 'Megatronus' engage their 'mortal enemies'. She offered the amnesiac Prime a weak, unseen smile before turning to Knockout, who was staring at her in shock and befuddlement, obviously trying to decide whether he was supposed to rush up and repair them both, confine them, or simply blast them both to scrap and order clean up.

"I am under my lord Megatron's orders, Knockout..." She bowed minutely, biting hard on her lip against the pain, gesturing to the red and blue mech standing next to her, gazing about in curious awe. "Allow me to introduce a long-lost friend of the Lord Protector's: Orion Pax."

As Knockout gaped, Terabyte swayed unsteadily, feeling the tight grip of undefiable orders slipping away, allowing the myriad ailments of her frame to catch up to her, threatening to make her glitch from the sheer excruciating agony that made up her being.

Large arms caught her with a surprised exclamation before Pax said hesitantly, concern weighing heavy in his much lighter, more innocent tone, "This femme needs a medic! Quickly!"

She sighed, feeling her systems begin to shut down, one last train of thought cycling through her processors. Orion Pax needed her help if he was ever going to be Optimus Prime again, and slave-code or no, she would save the Prime, and thereby the Autobot cause.

This was her mission now. This was her duty.


End file.
